NBC News’ Today show beat ABC News’ Good Morning America in the key A25-54 demo this past week, ending GMA’s three week long reign as being the most-watched morning news show in the key demo.
The busy news week, which included the arrest and arraignment of former President Donald Trump and the expulsion of two Black Tennessee State representatives, did not significantly help the morning shows in terms of viewership, as Today was the only show to register week-to-week gains, and this was only seen within the key A25-54 demo.
For the week of April 3, according to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, GMA averaged 3.105 million total viewers and 669,000 A25-54 viewers. Compared to the previous week, GMA dropped by -4% in total viewers and -5% in the A25-54 demo. Looking at the morning show’s performance to the same week in 2022, the morning show was down by -6% in total viewers and by -12% in the A25-54 demo.
NBC’s Today was the No. 2 show in total viewers with more than 2.77 million total viewers on average, but came in first place in the A25-54 demo with a 701,000 viewer average for the week of April 3. Compared to the previous week, Today slightly dropped in total viewers, sliding by -1%, but as mentioned earlier, it was the only morning show to register week-to-week gains growing by +2% in the key demo of A25-54. When looking at the numbers from the same week in 2022, Today show was down in total viewers by -5% and dropped by -12% in the A25-54 demo.
NOTE: Today’s Friday, April 7 edition was retitled to “Today Show-TS” due to the Good Friday holiday. The telecast is excluded from the weekly average and is based on four days (Monday-Thursday).
For the week of April 3, CBS Mornings remained in its third-place position. The morning show dropped by -2% in total viewers compared to the previous week to stand at 2,341,000 viewers and saw a double-digit decline of -12% in the A25-54 demo to stand at 468,000 viewers. Not having a significant portion of its marquee on-air talent during a newsy week could be one reason why viewers shied away from the program. Looking at the same period in 2022, the morning show was down in total viewers and A25-54 demo by -5 and -12%, respectively.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of April 3, 2023:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,105,000 | 2,774,000 | 2,341,000 |
| • A25-54: | 669,000 | 701,000 | 468,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 4/3/23), Previous Week (w/o 3/27/23) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/4/22). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19/22-4/9/23), Season 2021-2022 (9/20/21-4/10/22). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.