What a difference a week makes.
Good Morning America was the No. 1 morning show during the week of May 31 in both total viewers and adults 25-54.
However, this past week, Today finished No. 1 in both of the aforementioned measurements.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, NBC’s morning show averaged more than 3.2 million total viewers and 866,000 adults 25-54 during the week of June 7. That’s +3% in total viewers and +3% in adults 25-54 from the prior week. However, compared to the same week one year ago (June 8, 2020), the program fell -6% in total viewers and -17% in adults 25-54.
GMA averaged 3.15 million total viewers and 815,000 adults 25-54 per first-run broadcast this past week. Relative to the prior week, ABC’s morning show shed -4% in total viewers, and -6% in adults 25-54. Compared to the same week one year ago (June 8, 2020), GMA shed -12% of its average total audience and fell -16% in adults 25-54.
Third-place CBS This Morning averaged 2.6 million total viewers but just 498,000 adults 25-54 for the week of June 7. Compared to the prior week, CTM gained +2% in average total viewers, but dropped -4% in adults 25-54. The broadcast shed -3% in average total viewers, and -14% in adults 25-54 from the year-ago week.
Despite these losses, CBS This Morning is delivering the narrowest season-to-date gaps with the competition in total viewers and the 25-54 demo dating back to 1991. However, as the above numbers make clear, this doesn’t mean CTM’s ratings are exactly skyrocketing, it just means that the show’s year-over-year losses are less severe than what GMA and Today have been experiencing.
As we’ve mentioned in recent ratings stories, the year-over-year audience decline makes sense. Not only were many Americans more likely to watch the morning shows for breaking news coverage of the pandemic and the election campaign at this time last year, but the overall news cycle is far calmer these days than it was at any point in 2020. We should also expect ratings to decline even more as the weather improves and we approach summer. But that’s true across TV, not exclusively news.
Additionally, Americans have been fleeing the broadcast morning shows for years now, even prior to the pandemic, with a fair number heading to cable, streaming, newsletters, podcasts, etc. in the morning, which adversely effects their Nielsen linear ratings.
Nielsen Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of June 7, 2021
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,150,000 | 3,215,000 | 2,600,000 |
| • A25-54: | 815,000 | 866,000 | 498,000 |