The battle for the adults 25-54 demographic between ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today’s has intensified, as Today managed to squeeze out a win in that demo for a second week in a row.
It was a very narrow win for Today, beating GMA by just 1000 viewers.
The past week’s news cycle was dominated by the continuous coverage surrounding the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, which could be why Today managed to edge out GMA again.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen for the week of September 12, GMA averaged 2.991 million total viewers and 718,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demo. It remained flat in total viewers, but grew by 1% in adults 25-54 viewers compared to the previous week.
GMA’s performance, when compared to the same week in 2021, saw declines in both total viewers and the adults 25-54 demo at -9% and -13%, respectively.
The Today show must be feeling good about its back-to-back wins in the adults 25-54 demo. It averaged 2.801 total viewers and 719,000 adults 25-54 viewers for the week of September 12. When compared to the previous week, Today grew by 1% in total viewers but dropped by -7% in the adults 25-54 demo.
Compared to the same week in 2021, the show is down -9% in total viewers and -16% in adults 25-54.
The chase for the top spot has become even more competitive, as Today has reduced its total viewer gap with GMA by 10% compared to the prior week and the prior year.
CBS Mornings had 2.406 million total viewers and 519,000 adults 25-54 viewers for the week of September 12. This was a 1% gain in total viewers and a -2% decline in the adults 25-54 demo when compared to the previous week.
Looking at the same week in 2021, CBS Mornings is down flat in total viewers and grew by 3% in adults 25-54.
Due to live coverage of a special report on Queen Elizabeth, last week’s Wednesday editions of GMA, Today and CBS Mornings were retitled as GMA-ABC, Today-TS and CBS Morn—and were excluded from the week and season averages. The weekly averages for all three programs are based on four days (Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday).
Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Sept. 12:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 2,991,000 | 2,801,000 | 2,406,000 |
| • A25-54: | 718,000 | 719,000 | 519,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 9/12/22), Previous Week (w/o 9/5/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/13/21). Most Current: 2021 -2022 Season (9/20/21 – 9/18/22) and 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 9/19/21). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.