Good Morning America and Today split the morning show ratings competition for the week of Feb. 1, 2021.
Not much of a surprise there.
ABC’s morning show averaged 3.6 million total viewers and 926,000 adults 25-54 this past week, according to the most up to date data from Nielsen. The 3.6 million total viewer average is down -1%, and the 925,000 A25-54 average is down -2% compared to the prior week.
Good Morning America—the most-watched morning show for 9 years and counting—continues to increase its advantage over Today in total viewers to its largest in 5 years – since the 2015-16 season.
GMA may have won the week in total viewers (as it usually does), but Today marked its 76th consecutive week as the top morning show among adults 25-54. In addition to averaging 993,000 demo viewers (-2% from the prior week), the NBC morning show averaged 3.4 million in total viewers (which is actually up +2% from the prior week).
Today was the only morning show that also increased its total viewership last week — while both GMA and CBS This Morning saw their numbers in the key categories decline.
Speaking of CTM — after a superb week, the CBS morning show came back down to Earth a bit. The program averaged 2.86 million total viewers this past week, which is -2% compared to the prior week. The program averaged 638,000 adults 25-54, which is -9% from the prior week.
Twenty weeks into the new season, CBS This Morning has cut the total viewer gap with Today by 31% and GMA by 20%. In the A25-54 demo, CTM has cut into Today’s lead by 17% and GMA’s by 20%. Basically, CTM has been losing a smaller percentage of its audience than GMA and Today have been losing, season to-date.
Compared to the year-ago week, Good Morning America is down double digits among adults 25-54 (-20%) and -7% in total viewers. Today is -21% among adults 25-54, and -9% in total viewers. Lastly, CTM is down -14% among adults 25-54, and -5% in total viewers versus the same week in 2020.
Nielsen Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Feb.1, 2021:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,579,000 | 3,386,000 | 2,859,000 |
| • A25-54: | 926,000 | 993,000 | 638,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 2/1/21), Previous Week (w/o 1/25/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/3/20). Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 2/7/21 and Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 2/9/20). “GMA3” year-ago time-slot (“GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke”). *Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.