The long-shrinking gap between “Today” and “Good Morning America” is growing again.
After several months of declining ratings, NBC’s dominant morning show has seen viewership rise since the start of the year, recording four straight weeks of growth and posting its most-watched day in nearly a year.
That has pushed “Today” well ahead of ABC’s “GMA.” For the week ended Jan. 27, the most recent available, “Today” averaged 6.1 million total viewers, its best week since last February. It was 1.3 million ahead of “GMA,” a 26 percent advantage, and 2.9 million ahead of CBS’s “Early Show,” a 91 percent advantage.
The big week was due in part to the show’s 6.5 million viewers on Jan. 24, its best single-day viewership since Feb. 15, 2007. On that day, “Today” also had its best single-day viewer advantage over “GMA,” 1.9 million, since March 2004, excluding Olympic weeks and anchor changes.
Perhaps most significantly, “Today” is seeing year-to-year growth in virtually every demographic while “GMA” is down. Over the past few months both shows had been slipping but “Today” was seeing bigger drops, helping to close the gap between the two to just 600,000 viewers during November sweeps.
Now “Today’s” advantage has been 1 million or more for four straight weeks.
The network says there’s no one reason for the increase but rather a combination of factors. "Today" began rising with its "Ends of the Earth" stunt in November, in which the show's four main hosts traveled to different continents, and the growth continued the next two months.
Another big reason for the rise is that there’s less churn in the morning following a period of major changes. It’s now been nearly a year and a half since Meredith Vieira took over for Katie Couric as co-host, and almost two years since Charles Gibson’s departure from “GMA.”
Whenever morning show hosts change, it’s normal to see sampling of other shows and ratings peaks and valleys until viewers have adjusted to the new faces. In the case of “Today,” it probably took some time before longtime viewers warmed to Vieira, who displayed a different, looser personality during her previous stint on “The View.”
The bump may also be in a small part due to the close presidential primaries. Though morning shows don’t generally see a big politics bump, the close nature of this contest has led presidential hopefuls to make frequent appearances on the morning shows.
"January has been a heavy news/political month, and viewers turn to 'Today' on big news days," an NBC spokesperson says.
And there could be a small holdover from NBC's improving primetime. During first quarter, excluding special events like the Super Bowl, NBC is the only network seeing year-to-year primetime increases, and improved primetime fortunes sometimes give morning shows a boost, as "GMA" saw a few years back when "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" became hits on ABC.
Meanwhile, in other dayparts for the week ended Jan. 27, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was once again first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 4.12 million tuning in, and second among viewers 25-54 with a 1.1 rating. ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” was second in viewers with 3.31 million and first among 25-54s with a 1.2, with CBS’s “Face the Nation” pulling 2.98 million viewers and a 0.9 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” was fourth in viewers with 1.49 million and among 25-54s with a 0.6.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” finished first for the week, averaging 5.0 million total viewers and a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” had 3.7 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.0 million viewers and a 0.9 18-49 rating. In late-late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 2.0 million total viewers and a 0.8 in 18-49s, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 1.7 million viewers and a 0.6, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.4 million viewers and a 0.5, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 1.1 million viewers and a 0.4 among 18-49s.
CBS once again had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 4.2 million viewers, but was tied for second among women 18-49 with a 1.4 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 3.19 million viewers, but was first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.91 million and also tied for second among women 18-49 with a 1.4 rating.
In evening network news for the week ended Feb. 3, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first among total viewers, averaging 9.70 million, and tied for first among 25-54s with a 2.4 average rating. ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was second in viewers, averaging 9.37 million, and tied for first among 25-54s with a 2.4, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 7.19 million total viewers and a 1.9 25-54 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending January 27, 2008
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
3.0 |
8 |
1.1 |
4.120 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
2.5 |
7 |
1.2 |
3.310 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
2.1 |
5 |
0.9 |
2.980 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
1.1 |
3 |
0.6 |
1.490 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending January 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
5.0 |
1.5 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
3.7 |
1.1 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.0 |
0.9 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
2.0 |
0.8 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.7 |
0.6 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live |
ABC |
1.4 |
0.5 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly |
NBC |
1.1 |
0.4 |
|
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending January 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
4.6 |
16 |
6.1 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.7 |
13 |
4.8 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.4 |
8 |
3.2 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending January 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
4.20 |
1.4 |
|
ABC |
3.19 |
1.5 |
|
NBC |
2.91 |
1.4 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending February 3, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
2.4 |
9.699 |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
2.4 |
9.369 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.9 |
7.185 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending January 27, 2008
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
8.5
|
9597
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
7.0
|
7889
|
|
3
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
5.6
|
6261
|
|
4
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
5.5
|
6151
|
|
5
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
5.2
|
5894
|
|
6
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.7
|
5355
|
|
6
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
4.7
|
5307
|
|
8
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.6
|
5241
|
|
9
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
4.4
|
4909
|
|
10
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
4.0
|
4529
|
|
10
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
4.0
|
4497
|
|
12
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
3.8
|
4335
|
|
13
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
CTD
|
3.5
|
3986
|
|
13
|
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.5
|
3925
|
|
15
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
3.3
|
3698
|
|
16
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
3.2
|
3567
|
|
17
|
KING OF QUEENS-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.1
|
3487
|
|
18
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
3.0
|
3411
|
|
18
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
3.0
|
3389
|
|
18
|
EVBDY LVS RAYMOND-WKD-SYN
|
CTD
|
3.0
|
3371
|
|
21
|
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.9
|
3317
|
|
22
|
PEOPLE'S COURT (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3073
|
|
22
|
WITHOUT A TRACE (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3020
|
|
22
|
TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3003
|
|
22
|
ACCESS
HOLLYWOOD (AT)
|
NBU
|
2.7
|
2996
|
|
Source: Nielsen M |
