Choosing Tom Brokaw to serve as the fill-in host of "Meet the Press" after the death of Tim Russert turns out to have been a smart choice on the part of NBC.
Not only has the show remained the dominant Sunday morning political show, its lead has widened. Ratings are up compared to the same time last year.
For the week ended July 27, the most recent numbers available, Brokaw pulled his biggest audience since the two Sundays after Russert died, averaging 3.83 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.
That was a hefty 56 percent advantage over second-place ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” which averaged 2.45 million, and 83 percent better than CBS’s “Face the Nation,” which averaged 2.1 million.
“Press” averaged a 1.2 rating in its target adults 25-54, 71 percent better than “Week’s” 0.7 and double “Nation’s” 0.6.
Season to date, “Press” had been 46 percent ahead of No. 2 “Week” in total viewers and held a 42 percent lead among adults 25-54.
Part of the reason Brokaw’s lead has grown is that “Week” and “Nation” are both seeing ratings declines. Both were off last week from their second quarter averages in both total viewers and adults 25-54, while “Press” was down by a smaller percentage in total viewers and even in 25-54s.
“Press” has now won 358 of the last 359 weeks among total viewers.
Earlier this week Brokaw was named a moderator for one of the three fall presidential debates, which should help continue his weekend ratings momentum. The former “NBC Nightly News” anchor will remain on “Press” until after the presidential election, when a new host is expected to be named.
But even then it's likely NBC’s domination will continue.
Certainly, Russert gets much of credit for the success of "Press," but the show has also benefited from the quality of its guests, the program’s strong production values, and NBC News’ general domination. The network has the No. 1 nightly newscast and the No. 1 morning show as well.
Brokaw was such a shrewd choice as the show's temporary host because in so many ways he personifies the best of NBC news.
Recently, NBC named former Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker to succeed Russert as NBC's Washington bureau chief. Just who will take over "Press" is still very much up in the air.
***
Meanwhile, in other dayparts for the week ended July 27, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” was first for the week, averaging 4.5 million total viewers and a 1.1 rating among adults 18-49. ABC’s “Nightline” had 3.0 million viewers and a 0.9 rating in the demo, with CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” bringing in 2.9 million viewers and a 0.9 18-49 rating. In late-late night, in encore telecasts, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 1.6 million total viewers and a 0.6 in 18-49s, with ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.4 million viewers and a 0.5 (including a Monday repeat), CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” also at 1.4 million viewers and a 0.5, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 0.9 million viewers and a 0.3 among 18-49s in repeats.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 4.66 million total viewers and a 3.6 household rating and 14 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.05 million viewers and a 3.2/12. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.31 million total viewers and a 1.8/7.
CBS once again had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 3.63 million viewers, but was second among women 18-49 with a 1.2 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 2.95 million viewers, but placed first among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.52 million and was third among women 18-49 with a 1.0 rating.
In evening network news for the week ended Aug. 3, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first among total viewers, averaging 7.46 million, but second among 25-54s with a 1.8 average rating. ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was second in viewers, averaging 7.29 million, and first in 25-54s with a 1.9 rating, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 5.48 million total viewers and a 1.3 25-54 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending July 27, 2008
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.9 |
9 |
1.2
|
3.825 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
1.8 |
6 |
0.7 |
2.447 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
1.6 |
5 |
0.6 |
2.095 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
0.9 |
3 |
0.3 |
1.101 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending July 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
4.5 |
1.1 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
3.0 |
0.9 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
2.9 |
0.9 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien* |
NBC |
1.6 |
0.6 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live** |
ABC |
1.4 |
0.5 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.4 |
0.5 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly* |
NBC |
0.9 |
0.3 |
|
*Encore telecasts
**Encore telecast on Monday
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending July 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
3.6 |
14 |
4.66 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.2 |
12 |
4.05 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
1.8 |
7 |
2.31 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending July 27, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.63 |
1.2 |
|
ABC |
2.95 |
1.3 |
|
NBC |
2.52 |
1.0 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending August 3, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
1.8 |
7.459 |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
1.9 |
7.292 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.3 |
5.476 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending July 27, 2008
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
6.5
|
7367
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
5.7
|
6397
|
|
3
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
4.6
|
5154
|
|
4
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.5
|
5076
|
|
5
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.3
|
4826
|
|
6
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.9
|
4455
|
|
7
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.8
|
4251
|
|
8
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.7
|
4207
|
|
8
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.7
|
4134
|
|
10
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.5
|
3904
|
|
11
|
LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
3.1
|
3533
|
|
11
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.1
|
3532
|
|
11
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
3.1
|
3530
|
|
14
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
3
|
3395
|
|
15
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.9
|
3317
|
|
16
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
2.8
|
3152
|
|
17
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
CTD
|
2.7
|
