The evening newscasts may have seen week-to-week losses, but the morning shows posted slight week-to-week audience gains.
NBC’s Today show led the charge, and is becoming the go-to morning show in the coronavirus era. At least early on.
Not only did Today remain No. 1 ahead of ABC and CBS in the key demo, but it also won the week of March 23 in Total Viewers for the fourth week in a row, and delivered its largest total audience since the week of Jan. 28, 2019.
Good Morning America took second place in the relevant measurements, behind Today. However, its Wednesday and Monday telecasts (4.5 million and 1.37 million, respectively) were show’s most-watched since February 2019.
GMA is still the No. 1 morning newscast in Total Viewers season to-date, and currently holds its largest lead in that category since the 2016-2017 season.
GMA and Today weren’t the only morning shows to have good ratings weeks. CBS This Morning continues to post week-to-week and year-over-year audience growth.
Compared to the previous week, CTM was +3% in Total Viewers and +2% in A25-54 viewers. Today show was +1% in Total Viewers, and flat in the demo. Good Morning America was +1% in Total Viewers and +2% in the key demo.
As expected, the audience growth was even stronger vs. the same week last year. GMA was +13% in Total Viewers and +15% in the key A25-54 demo. Today show posted even more growth: +15% in Total Viewers and 17% in the demo. CBS This Morning was +10% in Total Viewers and +6% in the key demo.
Numbers for the week of Mar. 23, 2020:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 4,356,000 | 4,387,000 | 3,388,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,308,000 | 1,514,000 | 844,000 |