After back-to-back weeks in second place, Good Morning America has regained its status as the most-watched morning show, averaging 3.32 million viewers during the week of Dec. 6, 2021, more than its competition from NBC and CBS. ABC’s morning show averaged 803,000 adults 25-54 for the week as well, more than CBS Mornings but second behind NBC’s Today.
GMA’s 3.32 million total viewer average for the week is +2% from what the broadcast averaged in the measurement the previous week (3.255 million), but the 803,000 adults 25-54 average is -4%, week-to-week. GMA also shed -14% in the key demo and -7% in average total viewers from the year-ago week. That’s a sharper year-over-year decline than NBC and CBS experienced.
Despite this year-over-year decline, season to date, GMA remains the most-watched morning show for the 10th year in a row.
NBC’s Today averaged 894,000 adults 25-54 during the week of Dec. 6, more than ABC and CBS in the ad-friendly measurement. Taking that result into account, Today has earned either an outright win or first-place tie in the key A25-54 demo 323 out of the past 327 weeks—and it has been the top morning show in the demo for seven years straight.
In addition to 894,000 adults 25-54, Today also averaged 3.27 million total viewers for the week of Dec. 6, a -1% decline from what the show averaged the previous week. The 894,000 average in the demo is -5% from the prior week. Additionally, compared to the same week in 2020, NBC’s morning show shed -2% in total viewers and -11% among adults 25-54.
CBS Mornings averaged 2.62 million total viewers to go with 565,000 A25-54 viewers during the week of Dec. 6. That’s +1% in average total viewers and a solid +8% adults 25-54 from the previous week. A nice performance for CBS Mornings. In fact, the 2.62 million is the show’s largest average audience since the week of Aug. 30, when it was still known as CBS This Morning.
However, as was the case for ABC and NBC’s morning offerings, CBS Mornings was down from the comparable week in 2020, shedding -1% in average total audience and -5% in A25-54 audience.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Dec. 6, 2021:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,320,000 | 3,270,000 | 2,622,000 |
| • A25-54: | 803,000 | 894,000 | 565,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 12/6/21), Previous Week (w/o 11/29/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 12/7/20). Most Current: 2021 -2022 Season (9/20 – 12/12/21) and 2020 -2021 Season (9/21 – 12/13/20). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.