Another week, another first place split in the morning show ratings race.
Good Morning America was the most-watched morning show for the week of Oct. 26 (3.38 million total viewers), while Today averaged the most adults 25-54 (1.04 million).
This is according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day for the sixth week of the 2020-2021 broadcast season.
By averaging 1.04 million adults 25-54 this past week, Today has now finished No. 1 (either outright or in a tie) in the A25-54 measurement for 62 consecutive weeks.
The NBC morning show performed well once again relative to the prior week (Oct. 19 2020). Among adults 25-54, Today was +1%. The broadcast was also +1% in total viewers. The fact that the show celebrated Halloween on Friday (Halloween is one of the show’s most popular telecasts of the year) certainly helped lift the audience average from the prior week.
However not from the prior year. Compared with the year-ago week (Oct. 28, 2019), Today was -15% in total viewers and -19% in the A25-54 demo.
Over on ABC, GMA outperformed Today by an average of +116,000 total viewers last week. However, it averaged -147,000 adults 25-54 compared to its NBC morning competitor.
Unlike Today, GMA was -2% total viewers and -7% among adults 25-54 versus the previous week. The year-over-year trend wasn’t great either. However, similar to today, the broadcast was -14% in total viewers and -26% in adults 25-54 compared to the same week in 2019.
GMA and Today traditionally produce elaborate broadcasts on Halloween. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that Halloween 2019 was on a Thursday, whereas Halloween 2020 was on Saturday this year and the broadcast celebrated the holiday on a Friday, which also happens to often be the lowest-rated day of the week.
That helps explain the severe double digit year-over-year losses.
CBS This Morning, which has steered clear of Halloween costumes over the years, averaged 2.68 million total viewers and 634,000 A25-54 viewers. The 634,000 A25-54 total is a solid +5% bump from the previous week. The 2.68 million total viewer count represents +2% from the prior week. However, compared to the year-ago week of Oct. 28, 2019, CTM was -9% in total viewers and -19% in adults 25-54.
Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Oct. 26
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,380,000 | 3,264,000 | 2,676,000 |
| • A25-54: | 889,000 | 1,036,000 | 634,000 |