The weekly ratings race tradition continues: Good Morning America was No. 1 in Total Viewers for the week of July 6, but Today finished No. 1 outright among Adults 25-54.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, ABC’s Good Morning America averaged 3.36 million viewers per original broadcast for the week of July 6, an average of +93,000 more total viewers than its NBC rival Today.
Season to date, GMA is the most-watched morning news show for the eighth straight year.
ABC’s morning show may have continued to average a larger total audience for the week, as has regularly been the case over these past eight years, but it again finished behind Today when it came to delivering the advertiser-preferred 25-54 demo.
Today averaged 955,000 A25-54 demo viewers this past week, finishing No. 1 in the demo for 235 of the past 237 weeks (No. 1, meaning an outright win or a tie), and delivering a larger total Adults 25-54 audience than ABC and CBS outright for 234 of the past 237 weeks. The Today show averaged +50,000 more A25-54 viewers than GMA for the week. ( 955,000 vs. 905,000).
CBS This Morning, on the other hand, remained in third place, averaging just under 2.6 million total viewers and 586,000 A25-54 viewers for the week.
How did the morning shows trend compare to other relevant weeks?
Unlike its evening news counterparts, the morning shows continue to see linear ratings losses, a trend we expounded on in our piece from yesterday about Today All Day, the new streaming feed for Peacock that’s dedicated solely to Today show content.
Compared to the prior week in 2020 (week of June 29), morning show performance was OK. GMA was flat in average total viewership and flat in the key demo. Today was -1% in the demo and -1% in average total viewership. CBS This Morning, on the other hand, was +2% in the demo, but -5% from the previous week in average total viewership.
It’s worth noting that GMA’s and CBS This Morning’s weekly averages for the week of June 29 were based on four days (Mon.-Thurs.), while Today show’s averages are based on three days (Mon.-Wed.). The respective programs made these changes due to the Independence Day holiday on Friday, July 3.
Compared to the same week in 2019 (week of July 8, 2019), the trend was considerably worse. GMA was -5% in average total viewership and -7% in the demo. Today was -5% in average total viewership and -6% in the demo. CTM was -5% in Total Viewers and a whopping -16% in the demo.
The weekly averages for CTM during that week last year were based only on four days, so perhaps one can take that into account.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of July 6:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,360,000 | 3,267,000 | 2,596,000 |
| • A25-54: | 905,000 | 955,000 | 586,000 |