As is the case in morning news most weeks, Good Morning America and Today split the ratings battle.
For the week of Feb. 17, GMA averaged 3.8 million Total Viewers and 1.1 million Adults 25-54. The ABC morning show out-performed its NBC counterpart this past week by +31,000 Total Viewers, increasing its lead over the NBC program year to year by +24% (vs. 25,000).
Season to date, GMA is the No. 1 morning newscast in Total Viewers for the 8th straight year after finishing as the No. 1 morning newscast for the last 7 seasons. In fact, GMA is more than doubling its advantage over Today versus last season (+137% – 97,000 vs. 41,000) to its largest since the 2016-17 season.
GMA may have remained on top in overall audience, but NBC’s Today marked its 54th consecutive month as the top morning show in Adults 25-54, the demo du jour among advertisers of news. In addition to winning the week of Feb. 17 in the demo, Today also won in total viewers last Thursday.
Additionally, the NBC morning show posted its best total viewer average in 6 weeks and its closest total viewer margin with GMA in 7 weeks.
Yes, CBS This Morning remained in 3rd place. However, the show gave GMA and Today a run for their money, and delivered its most-watched week of the broadcast season to-date. In fact, the Feb. 21 broadcast of CBS This Morning was the top-rated one of the season to-date (3.23 million viewers).
However, compared to the same week in 2019, the morning trio continued to shed viewers. GMA was -10% in Total Viewers and -8% in the demo. Today was -10% in Total Viewers and -17% in the demo. CTM was -8% in Total Viewers and -13% in the demo.
It’s also worth noting that due to Presidents’ Day on Monday (Feb. 17), GMA, CBS This Morning and Today weekly averages are based on 4 days (Tue-Fri).
Morning Show Ratings for the Week of Feb. 17:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,793,000 | 3,762,000 | 3,166,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,136,000 | 1,206,000 | 799,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD, Current Week (w/o 2/17/20), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/18/19). Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 2/23/20) and 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/18 – 2/24/19). Averages based on regular telecasts.