The gap between ABC News’ Good Morning America and NBC News’ Today in total viewers has once again shrunk for the week of March 18, 2024.
Last week, 123,000 total viewers separated the two shows, which was seen as a positive development for GMA in maintaining its position as the No.1 morning news show in total viewers. However, for the week of March 18, the separation shrank to 60,000 total viewers.
Otherwise, it was generally a good week for the morning news shows as they all had week-to-week gains in total viewers and all shows had more than 2 million viewers. GMA and Today also had gains in the advertiser-coveted demo of Adults 25-54, with CBS Mornings being the only morning show to regress within that demo.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, GMA averaged 2.779 million total viewers and 540,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of March 18. Compared to the previous week, GMA’s performance was up in total viewers and the A25-54 demo by +4%. Looking at the morning show’s performance to the same week in 2023, GMA was down in total viewers by -14% and fell by -23% in the A25-54 demo.
Meanwhile, NBC News’ Today show was the top morning newscast in the A25-54 demo with 696,000 viewers and finished as the No.2 morning show in total viewers with 2.719 million for the week of March 18. It trimmed the gap in total viewers between itself and GMA to just 60,000 viewers. Meanwhile, its first-place finish in the A25-54 demo now stretches to 32 straight weeks. When checking the show’s numbers from the previous week, Today was up by +7% in total viewers and +14% in the demo. Compared to the same week in 2023, Today was down by -4% in total viewers and was flat in the A25-54 demo.
CBS Mornings came in third place with 2.019 million total viewers and 400,000 viewers in A25-54 for the week of March 18. Compared to the previous week, CBS News’ morning show grew in total viewers by +2% and fell by -1% in the A25-54 demo. It was the only morning show to register a decline in any of the measured categories. Looking at the same period in 2023, CBS Mornings fell in total viewers by -13% and -19% in the A25-54 demo.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of March 18, 2024:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 2,779,000 | 2,719,000 | 2,019,000 |
| • A25-54: | 540,000 | 696,000 | 400,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 3/18/24), Previous Week (w/o 3/11/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/13/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 3/24/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 3/19/23). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.