A surprising winning streak has finally come to an end. After eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 among Adults 25-54, ABC’s Good Morning America has finally ceded the top ranking in the measurement to NBC’s Today.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, the linear broadcast of Today averaged 656,000 adults 25-54 during the week of June 27. That number is +31,000 more than what GMA averaged in the demo (the show’s largest lead in more than two months), a +5% gain from what Today averaged the previous week. Today also averaged 2.65 million total viewers this past week, still No. 2 behind GMA and +1% from the previous week. Now, week-to-week growth in multiple measurements and the return to No. 1 in the key demo are obviously positives. However, Today regularly sees the steepest year-over-year losses (-22% in A25-54 and -16% in total viewers).
Why? One reason could be NBC’s morning show has traditionally skewed younger than ABC’s and CBS’ morning offerings—and younger viewers are increasingly migrating towards the franchise’s on-demand streaming service and/or newsletters and podcasts for their dose of morning news. The streaming numbers aren’t included in these weekly Nielsen ratings reports.
Good Morning America continues to capture the most total viewers on morning TV overall, despite its fall to No. 2 among Adults 25-54. The program averaged 625,000 A25-54 this past week, which is -6% from what the show pulled in the previous week—and -18% vs. the year-ago week. GMA also averaged 2.89 million viewers for the week, which is -1% from what the show averaged the prior week—and -11% vs. the year-ago week. So, a poor ratings week by GMA standards after a lengthy stretch of success.
CBS Mornings averaged 2.25 million total viewers and 458,000 adults 25-54 during the week of June 27, which is -2% in total viewers and -9% among adults 25-54 vs. the prior week. On a year-over-year basis, CBS Mornings lost -12% in total viewers and -8% in adults 25-54.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day impressions for the week of June 27, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 2,886,000 | 2,647,000 | 2,251,000 |
| • A25-54: | 625,000 | 656,000 | 458,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 . Live + SD Current Week (w/o 6/27/22), Previous Week (w/o 6/20/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 6/28/21). Most Current: 2021 -2022 Season (9/20/21 – 7/3/22) and 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 7/4/21). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.