It’s rare on non-Olympics weeks for NBC’s Today to average a larger total audience than Good Morning America. But that’s exactly what happened last week.
Today was the No. 1 morning show for the week of Aug. 30 across the board, topping GMA in the key A25-54 demo and in average total viewers. The win marks the NBC morning show’s seventh across-the-board victory this season and biggest total audience delivery in six months (3.50 million). The show also delivered its largest A25-54 audience in five months (986,000).
Relative to the previous week (Aug. 23), Today grew by +11% in average total viewers and +10% among the key A25-54 demo. Relative to the same week in 2020, Today grew +7% in average total viewers, but shed -1% of its A25-54 audience.
In addition to averaging a larger total audience than GMA last week, Today has been the No. 1 morning show in the key A25-54 demo for 309 of the past 314 weeks.
It is worth noting, however, that the Friday broadcast of Today wasn’t rated last week, whereas GMA and CBS This Morning rated all five days.
It has been a rough stretch for Good Morning America, as we’ve documented a number of times on this site over the past couple of weeks, and falling behind Today in a measurement it typically dominates—Total Viewers—isn’t helping matters.
Despite the set-back, GMA did post audience growth from the previous week, both in average total viewers (3.5 million,+8%) and in adults 25-54 (890,000, +12%). Compared to the same week one year ago, GMA improved by +3% in average total viewers, and +1% in A25-54 viewers. So, not all was lost.
Third-place CBS This Morning (which became CBS Mornings on Sept. 7), averaged 2.7 million total viewers and 533,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Aug. 30. That’s a +9% improvement in average total viewers, but no change in adults 25-54 from the previous week. The program grew by +7% in average total viewers, but lost -5% of the A25-54 audience from the year-ago week.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Aug. 30:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,495,000 | 3,502,000 | 2,697,000 |
| • A25-54: | 890,000 | 986,000 | 533,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 8/30/21), Previous Week (w/o 8/23/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 8/31/20). Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 9/5/21) and Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 9/6/20). *Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.