Buoyed by its Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade coverage, NBC’s Today show dominated in the weekly morning show ratings race this past week, landing in the top spot in total viewers and in the adults 25-54 demographic.
Today broke ABC’s Good Morning America’s streak as the most-watched morning show, which had lasted for 40 weeks. Today’s ratings win comes with a caveat, though, as it took place during a shortened week brought on by the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, Today averaged 3.65 million total viewers and 995,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demo for the week of November 21. It was up by +19% and by +24% in total viewers and in adults 25-54, respectively, when compared to the previous week.
Looking at Today’s performance to the same week in 2021, the morning show saw declines in total viewers and the adults 25-54 demo at -2% and -10%, respectively.
GMA landed in unfamiliar territory, dropping to second place in total viewers averaging 3.25 million total viewers and 768,000 viewers in adults 25-54, for the week of Nov. 21.
Compared to the previous week, GMA was down -4% in total viewers and by -7% in the adults 25-54 demo. When looking at the numbers from the same week in 2021, the GMA was down -5% in total viewers and -17% in adults 25-54.
CBS Mornings came in third place in both total viewers and adults 25-54. For the week of November 21, Mornings averaged 2.53 million total viewers and 508,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demo. Compared to the previous week, CBS Mornings was down by -1% in total viewers and -11% in the adults 25-54 demo.
Looking at the same week in 2021, CBS Mornings was flat in total viewers, but it was the only morning show to grow in the adults 25-54 demo, up by +24%.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, GMA was retitled on Thursday and Friday. CBS Mornings was coded as specials from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. NBC’s Today was coded as a special on Wednesday and was retitled on Friday. All of those telecasts are excluded from the weekly averages. ABC’s weekly averages are based on three days (Monday-Wednesday), CBS’s weekly averages are based on just two days (Monday and Tuesday), and NBC’s weekly averages are based on three days, including Thursday.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Nov. 21:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,247,000 | 3,646,000 | 2,530,000 |
| • A25-54: | 713,000 | 995,000 | 508,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 11/21/22), Previous Week (w/o 11/14/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 11/22/21). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19 – 10/27/22), Season 2021-2022 (9/20 – 11/28/21). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.