Good Morning America and Today split the morning show ratings competition last week, as is traditionally the case.
However, CBS This Morning defeated Today in total viewers on Monday, Feb. 8, the day after the Super Bowl. This marked the first time the flagship CBS morning news program has beaten NBC in the time period since April 8, 1993.
That said, Today marked its 77th consecutive week as the top morning show among adults 25-54. In addition to averaging 990,000 demo viewers (unchanged from the prior week), the NBC morning show averaged 3.3 million in total viewers (which is -2% from the prior week).
Good Morning America averaged 3.45 million total viewers and 852,000 adults 25-54 this past week, according to the most up to date data from Nielsen. The 3.45 million total viewer average, more than its NBC and CBS counterparts, is down -4% compared to the prior week. Its 852,000 adults 25-54 average is more than CBS but far less than NBC, and -8% from the prior week.
Good Morning America—the most-watched morning show for nine years and counting—continues to increase its advantage over Today in total viewers to its largest in five years—since the 2015-16 season.
CBS This Morning averaged 3 million total viewers this past week, which is up +4% compared to the prior week. The program also averaged 695,000 adults 25-54, which is +9% from the prior week. One of the better ratings week CBS’ morning show has had in a while, driven by that post-Super Bowl broadcast, which drew 3.3 million viewers.
CBS This Morning was the only morning show that increased viewership in multiple measurements last week. It cut the gap with adults 25-54 to the smallest margin since at least 1991 against Today and the slimmest with GMA since 1998.
Compared to the year-ago week, all three shows continue to trend poorly. Good Morning America lost a quarter of its A25-54 audience (-25%) and was -10% in total viewers. Today lost -18% of its adults 25-54 audience, and -10% in total viewers. Lastly, CTM lost just -5% of its adults 25-54 audience, and remained flat 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: | 3,448,000 | 3,331,000 | 2,979,000 |
| • A25-54: | 852,000 | 990,000 | 695,000 |