Good Morning America and Today split first place in the morning show ratings race for the ninth straight week. For the week of Oct. 5, GMA averaged the most total viewers (3.5 million), while Today captured the most adults 25-54 (1 million).
This is according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day for the third week of the 2020-2021 season.
Each of the morning shows (including CBS This Morning) posted week-to-week growth in total viewers, which is something we don’t get to write particularly often these days, but certainly a welcome piece of news.
Over on NBC, by averaging 1 million adults 25-54 this past week, Today has now finished No. 1 (either outright or in a tie) in the A25-54 category for 59 consecutive weeks. The broadcast also delivered its largest total audience (3.3 million) in 11 weeks.
Compared with the prior week (Sept. 28, 2020), NBC’s morning money maker was flat among the A25-54 demo but +2% in total viewers. However, compared with the year-ago week (Oct. 7, 2019), the story wasn’t as positive. Today was -8% in total viewers and -14% in the A25-54 demo.
Over on ABC, GMA increased its viewership advantage, both week to week (+31%; versus 156,000) and year over year (+17%; versus 175,000) to its largest lead in 15 weeks—since the week of June 22. The show was also +3% in total viewers and +1% in A25-54 demo viewers from the previous week. However, GMA was also -7% in total viewers and -15% in adults 25-54 compared to the same week in 2019.
CBS This Morning averaged nearly 2.7 million total viewers and 620,000 A25-54 viewers. The 2.7 million represents +4% in total viewers from the previous week. That’s now back-to-back weeks of growth in total viewers to kick off the 2020-2021 season, welcome news for a show that could use some on the ratings front. CTM was also +5% in the demo versus the prior week. However, the story remains the same on a year-over-year basis. CTM was -5% in total viewers and -17% in adults 25-54 from the year-ago week.
Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Oct. 5
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,515,000 | 3,310,000 | 2,687,000 |
| • A25-54: | 936,000 | 1,011,000 | 620,000 |