For the ninth consecutive week, ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today split the weekly morning show ratings race. GMA averaged the most total viewers (3.30 million), while Today captured the most adults 25-54 (907,000) for the week of Sept. 27, 2021.
This is according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day for the second week of the 2021-’22 TV season.
GMA out-performed Today by +139,000 average total viewers, more than doubling its lead from premiere week (+117%; vs. 64,000). Additionally, on Tuesday (Sept. 28, 2021), despite finishing No. 2 in the key A25-54 demo for the week (829,000), ABC’s morning show managed to finished No. 1 in the key demo, leading NBC’s Today on that date by +53,000 A25-54 viewers (919,000 vs. 866,000).
Compared with season premiere week (Sept. 20, 2021), GMA remained flat in average total viewers, but saw +7% growth among adults 25-54. However, compared with the year-ago week (Sept. 28 2020), the show was -3% in total viewers and -11% in the A25-54 demo.
NBC’s Today show finished the week No. 1 among adults 25-54, which means the program has earned either an outright win or first-place tie in the key A25-54 demo for 59 consecutive weeks. In addition to averaging 907,000 adults 25-54, the NBC morning show averaged 3.16 million total viewers during the week of Sept. 27.
Relative to the previous week, Today lost -3% in average total viewers, but stayed flat among adults 25-54. Year-over-year, the NBC morning show was again -3% in total viewers, but -10% among adults 25-54, as younger demos continue to leave morning TV news.
CBS Mornings averaged nearly 2.54 million total viewers to go with 539,000 A25-54 viewers last week. This represents solid +5% growth in average total viewers and +8% growth in the demo from the previous week. CBS Mornings’ year-over-year losses weren’t as drastic as those felt by its competitors. The program shed -2% of its average total audience and -9% among adults 25-54.
Live-plus-same-day numbers for the week of Sept. 27, 2021:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 3,412,000 | 3,256,000 | 2,587,000 |
| • A25-54: | 929,000 | 1,011,000 | 590,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 9/27/21), Previous Week (w/o 9/20/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/28/20). Most Current: 2021 -2022 Season (9/20 – 10/3/21 and 2020 -2021 Season (9/21 – 10/4/20). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.