As if NBC
didn't have enough troubles with its “Today” show losing ground to “Good
Morning America” during the week. Now its Saturday show is feeling heat
from ABC's new “Good Morning America Weekend Edition.”
“Today” is still dominant on Saturdays, and by a
substantial margin, drawing twice the number viewers as “GMA Weekend.”
Yet the two-hour show's ratings are down since the debut last September of ABC's
one-hour
show.
During the first quarter, Saturday's “Today” averaged a 1.6
among 25-54s, down 11 percent from the 1.8 of the same
period in 2004, when it was in a two-way ratings race with just CBS's “Saturday
Early Show.” It averaged 4.8
million total viewers, off 4 percent from the 5 million it averaged last
year.
During the same period, Saturday's “GMA Weekend” averaged a 0.9
rating among 25-54s, up 29 percent from the 0.7 rating of its premiere
episode. It averaged 2.5 million total viewers.
An 11 percent dip certainly isn't a huge drop, but it's
significant because it happened after "GMA Weekend" had been on
the air only six months. And "GMA Weekend" has been improving
since then.
In the week ended April 23, the ABC Saturday show, which airs
at 8 a.m. in most of the country, averaged a 1.0 among 25-54s, a
43 percent jump from its debut numbers. It averaged 2.4
million total viewers, up 26 percent from the 1.9 million it drew during
its premiere episode.
“GMA Weekend” was launched as the broadcast networks
moved away from the traditional early-morning Saturday cartoons over the past few
years. ABC had been considering the idea for a long time, and with "GMA's"
weekday edition starting to catch up to longtime leader "Today,"
it seemed like the right time to change.
The format is much the same as "GMA's" weekday
edition, but the tone is more laid back. That's the same for the weekend
"Today," which airs at 7 a.m.
Meanwhile, CBS's “The Early Show” has slid to third
place, though its ratings appear unaffected by the arrival of a third
show. In first quarter it averaged a
0.7 in 25-54s and 2 million total viewers, unchanged from the
same period a year earlier.
In other dayparts news:
There’s good news for Bob Schieffer and “CBS Evening
News.” During the week ended May 1, the newscast showed signs of recovery,
averaging 6.9 million total viewers, up 13 percent from an all-time low of
6.1 million two weeks ago. The show earned a 4.8 household rating last week, up 9
percent from the week before.
It was an unusual ratings week last week, with President
Bush's Thursday evening 8:30 p.m. news conference disrupting evening
newscasts in the Midwest and West.
“CBS Evening News” was available to only 94 percent of the country
that night, while “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” was available
to just 89 percent of the country and ABC’s “World News Tonight” to
81 percent.
ABC came
out on top for the week with 8.9 million total viewers, but NBC contends that Nielsen included its lowered
Thursday ratings in calculating “Nightly News’” weekly average but
not ABC’s when figuring “World News’” average.
In syndication, the top game show for the week was “Wheel
of Fortune;” the top talk show, “Oprah Winfrey Show;” the top
comedy, “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
ABC was No. 1 among women 18-49 in daytime dramas and full
day during the week ended April 24,
while CBS led among total viewers.
|
SUNDAY
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending April 24, 2005 |
|
Program |
Network |
Households* |
People 2+ |
Adults 25-54 |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.9 |
9 |
3.777 |
1.2 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
2.1 |
6 |
2.868 |
0.7 |
|
This Week with George
Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
1.8 |
5 |
2.254 |
0.6 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
1.2 |
4 |
1.579 |
0.5 |
|
* Each rating point is
equivalent to 1.096 million home
Source: NTI |
|
MORNING SHOW
RATINGS
Week Ending April 24, 2005
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers
(millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
4.6 |
16 |
5.7 |
|
Good Morning America |
ABC |
4.1 |
15 |
5.3 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.0 |
7 |
2.5 |
|
* Each rating point is
equivalent to 1.096 million homes
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT
RATINGS
Week Ending April 24, 2005
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
5.9 |
2.1 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
3.9 |
1.4 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.2 |
1.1 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
2.4 |
1.2 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig
Ferguson |
CBS |
1.6 |
0.7 |
|
Last Call with Carson Daly |
NBC |
1.6 |
0.8 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live |
ABC |
1.4 |
0.6 |
|
Source:
NTI |
|
DAYTIME
RATINGS
Week Ending April 24, 2005
Five-day averages |
|
Daytime dramas |
Total viewers
(millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
Shr |
|
CBS |
3.62 |
1.6 |
10 |
|
ABC |
3.49 |
2.0 |
13 |
|
NBC |
2.73 |
1.6 |
10 |
|
Full daytime |
Total viewers
(millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
Shr |
|
CBS |
3.89 |
1.5 |
10 |
|
ABC |
3.34 |
1.9 |
12 |
|
NBC |
2.73 |
1.6 |
10 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING
NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending May 1, 2005
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households* |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers
(millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian
Williams |
NBC |
6.3 |
13 |
8.782 |
|
ABC World News Tonight with
Peter Jennings |
ABC |
6.2 |
13 |
8.894 |
|
CBS Evening News with Bob
Schieffer |
CBS |
4.8 |
10 |
6.851 |
|
* Each rating point is
equivalent to 1.084 million homes
Source: NTI
|
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending April 24, 2005 |
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE |
KIN |
8.1 |
8912 |
|
2 |
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (AT) |
KIN |
7.0 |
7638 |
|
3 |
JEOPARDY |
KIN |
6.9 |
7600 |
|
4 |
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN (AT) |
KIN |
6.3 |
6947 |
|
5 |
SEINFELD-WKND (AT) |
SPT |
5.8 |
6339 |
|
6 |
SEINFELD (AT) |
SPT |
5.4 |
5954 |
|
7 |
DR. PHIL SHOW |
KIN |
5.2 |
5679 |
|
8 |
CSI-SYN (AT) |
KIN |
5.1 |
5637 |
|
9 |
JUDGE JUDY (AT) |
PRM |
4.7 |
5197 |
|
10 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT) |
PRM |
4.5 |
4959 |
|
11 |
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND |
KIN |
4.2 |
4553 |
|
12 |
EVBDY LVS RAYMOND-WKD-SYN |
KIN |
3.7 |
4069 |
|
13 |
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY |
BV |
3.2 |
3515 |
|
13 |
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT) |
PRM |
3.2 |
3488 |
|
15 |
INSIDE EDITION |
KIN |
3.1 |
3368 |
|
16 |
MILLIONAIRE (AT) |
BV |
3.0 |
3257 |
|
17 |
MALCOLM IN-MIDDLE SYN(AT) |
2/T |
2.9 |
3229 |
|
17 |
THAT 70S SHOW-MF-SYN (AT) |
2/T |
2.9 |
3191 |
|
17 |
KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT) |
2/T |
2.9 |
3143 |
|
20 |
DIVORCE COURT (AT) |
2/T |
2.8 |
3050 |
|
21 |
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD |
PRM |
2.7 |
2989 |
|
21 |
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT) |
SPT |
2.7 |
2941 |
|
21 |
MAURY (AT) |
NBU |
2.7 |
2926 |
|
21 |
WILL & GRACE-SYN (AT) |
WB |
2.7 |
2925 |
|
25 |
PEOPLE'S COURT (AT) |
WB |
2.6 |
2894 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research
|
|
