With last week’s ratings win, NBC’s “Today” show marks 16 consecutive seasons, as the nation’s #1 network morning show in Total Viewers and its 17th straight in A25-54 viewers.
But compared to the 2008-2009 season, all three morning shows are down, with CBS’ “Early Show” losing the most: -220,000 Total Viewers. NBC lost -90K and ABC was down -80K from the year prior average, which included coverage of the 2008 presidential election and inauguration.
Still, there’s a lot of celebrating at NBC News today. In fact, Alex is at a luncheon put on by NBCU boss, and former “Today” show EP Jeff Zucker, honoring the NBC News, CNBC and MSNBC morning news shows and hosted by “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams. Look for his report later.
Jim Bell, who has been running “Today” since 2005 emailed TVNewser from the lunch: “TODAY continues to be the gold standard in morning television and we are very fortunate to have such an incredible team on the air and behind the scenes. We are thrilled about this achievement and excited about taking the show into the future and to new heights.”
The averages for the 2009-2010 Season
Total Viewers: NBC: 5.32M / ABC: 4.24M / CBS: 2.57M
A25-54 rating: NBC: 2.43M / ABC: 1.73M / CBS: 1.06M