Good Morning America and Today split the morning ratings competition for the week of Jan. 25, 2021.
New week, similar finish.
ABC’s morning show averaged 3.6 million total viewers and 945,000 adults 25-54 this past week, according to the most up to date data from Nielsen. The 3.6 million total viewer average is +274,000 more than the Today show, and is up +2% compared to the prior week.
Good Morning America—the most-watched morning show for 9 years and counting—is increasing 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 75 consecutive weeks as the top morning show among adults 25-54. A remarkable streak. In addition to averaging 3.3 million total viewers, the NBC morning show averaged 1 million adults 25-54 for the week, which is up +5% from the prior week.
CBS This Morning delivered another week of growth, up an impressive +15% from the prior week among adults 25-54 (700,000 vs. 610,000 A25-54 viewers). The program averaged 2.9 million total viewers, which is up +3% compared to the prior week. Solid performance overall. In fact, this was CTM’s most-watched week since the 2020 election.
GMA, as previously mentioned, grew +2% in total viewers, as well as +2%, among adults 25-54. Today show was flat total viewers despite that solid +5% growth in the demo.
Compared to the same week one year ago, the ratings trend for all three shows remains poor, particularly among the younger demo. GMA is down -6% in total viewers, and a whopping -20% among adults 25-54. Today struggled even more, -10% in total viewers and -18% among adults 25-54. CTM had the “least-worst” decline — down -2% in total viewers and -6% among adults 25-54.
Nielsen Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Jan. 25, 2021:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,601,000 | 3,327,000 | 2,909,000 |
| • A25-54: | 945,000 | 1,017,000 | 700,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 1/25/21), Previous Week (w/o 1/18/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/27/20). Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 1/31/21 and Most Current: 2019 -2020 Season (9/23/19 – 2/2/20). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. *Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.