So just how badly is Katie Couric doing ratings-wise, anyhow?
That seems to be the big question following word last week that the “CBS Evening News” anchor would be eased out following the presidential election.
The answer is pretty bad.
Couric has seen viewer declines in just about every category except for median age, where “Evening News” has grown slightly older. That’s the one place CBS wasn’t looking to rise.
While ABC and NBC have seen modest declines this year among total viewers and adults 25-54, Couric is down by double digits in each, after seeing double-digit declines last year as well.
Season to date, according to Nielsen, Couric is averaging 6.61 million total viewers. That's off 10 percent from last year and well behind first-place NBC at 8.96 million, which is off just 1 percent from last year. ABC is at 8.75 million, down 1 percent as well.
These latter declines represent that natural attrition of nightly news audiences. Couric's indicate a flight of viewers.
In adults 25-54s the story looks worse. She’s down 12 percent versus last year, to a 2.09 rating, while leader ABC is down 4 percent to 2.71 and second-place NBC has slipped 5 percent, to 2.69.
This was the audience Couric excelled with as co-host of "Today" on NBC for years.
Last week, when Wall Street Journal and Washington Post stories predicting her departure broke, Couric’s ratings fell to their lowest level in weeks, just 160,000 above her previous record low.
She averaged 5.56 million total viewers and a 1.4 25-54 rating, a distant third place. To be fair, ABC and NBC were also down from their season averages.
ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” placed first among total viewers, averaging 8.03 million, and 25-54s, with a 2.0 average rating. NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was second in viewers, averaging 7.92 million, and 25-54s, with a 1.9 rating.
During her 19 months on the job, Couric established record-low ratings for the newscast multiple times, the most recent last September, when she broadcast from Syria and Iraq to mark her first anniversary on the job.
She averaged a mere 5.4 million total viewers that week, the lowest for the broadcast since people meters were put in use 21 years ago, and less than half of what she pulled in her first night on the job a year earlier, when she bowed with 13.1 million.
The 51-year-old Couric has also had a difficult time wooing younger viewers. She was hired in part to attract women and young people, those who’ve long since abandoned the nightly network news.
But in 2007, Couric’s median viewer age was 61, a half-year higher than the previous year, when then-anchors Bob Schieffer and Dan Rather, ages 71 and 76, had a median age of 60.5. That was also CBS’s second-oldest median in five years, according to data from the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
Couric was, however, younger than her two rival newscasts, which were both at about 61.5 last year.
Meanwhile, in other dayparts for the week ended April 6, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 3.48 million tuning in and among viewers 25-54 with a 1.0 rating. ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” was second in viewers with 2.8 million and tied for second among 25-54s with a 0.8, with CBS’s “Face the Nation” pulling 2.78 million viewers and a 0.8 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” averaged 1.42 million viewers and a 0.5 rating among 25-54s.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” finished first for the week, averaging 5.1 million total viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” had 4 million viewers and a 1.2 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.2 million viewers and a 1.0 18-49 rating. In late-late night, CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” had 1.9 million total viewers and a 0.6 in 18-49s, with NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” at 1.8 million viewers and a 0.7, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.7 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 1 million viewers and a 0.4 among 18-49s.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first yet again with 5.63 million total viewers and a 4.3 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.44 million viewers and a 3.4/12. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.84 million total viewers and a 2.2/8.
CBS once again had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 3.73 million viewers, but was tied for second among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating. NBC had the second-largest audience, averaging 2.82 million viewers, and was first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating. ABC had a full daytime audience of 2.67 million and was tied for second among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending April 6, 2008
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.6 |
8 |
1.0 |
3.478 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
2.0 |
6 |
0.8 |
2.801 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
2.0 |
6 |
0.8 |
2.777 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
1.1 |
3 |
0.5 |
1.415 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending April 6, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
5.1 |
1.4 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
4.0 |
1.2 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.2 |
1.0 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.9 |
0.6 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
1.8 |
0.7 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live |
ABC |
1.7 |
0.6 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly |
NBC |
1.0 |
0.4 |
|
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending April 6, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
4.3 |
15 |
5.63 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.4 |
12 |
4.44 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.2 |
8 |
2.84 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending April 6, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.73 |
1.3 |
|
NBC |
2.82 |
1.5 |
|
ABC |
2.67 |
1.3 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending April 13, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
2.0 |
8.033 |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
1.9 |
7.918 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.4 |
5.561 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending April 6, 2008
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
7.7
|
8656
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
6.2
|
7020
|
|
3
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
5.8
|
6532
|
|
4
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
5.4
|
6140
|
|
5
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.8
|
5380
|
|
6
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.4
|
4995
|
|
6
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
4.4
|
4990
|
|
8
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
4.3
|
4846
|
|
9
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.1
|
4674
|
|
10
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
4.0
|
4535
|
|
11
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.6
|
4081
|
|
12
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.5
|
3977
|
|
13
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
3.3
|
3689
|
|
14
|
LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
3.1
|
3479
|
|
15
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
CTD
|
3.0
|
3368
|
|
16
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
2.9
|
3229
|
|
17
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
2.8
|
3199
|
|
17
|
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.8
|
3197
|
|
19
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
2.7
|
3025
|
|
20
|
TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.5
|
2838
|
|
20
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
2.5
|
2831
|
|
20
|
GEORGE LOPEZ WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.5
|
2780
|
|
23
|
PEOPLE'S COURT (AT)
|
WB
|
2.4
|
2759
|
|
23
|
REVOLUTION 1
|
2/T
|
2.4
|
2744
|
|
23
|
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.4
|
2694
|
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
