Morning Show Ratings

As we reported earlier, NBC’s “Today” show is back on top in the mornings in what could be a see-saw of first and second place finishes for “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” For the first three days of this current week, “GMA” has a +220,000 viewer lead on “Today.” “GMA” came in first both Tuesday and Wednesday.

Compared to the same week last year “Today” is down -2% in Total Viewers and down -3% in younger viewers while both “GMA” and “CBS This Morning” improved their year-ago numbers: GMA is up +4% / +15% and “CBS This morning is” up +7% / +11%.

The averages for the week of April 16:

• Total Viewers: NBC: 5.25M / ABC: 5.01M / CBS: 2.53M

• A25-54 viewers: NBC: 2.32M / ABC: 1.94M / CBS: 1.01M

A week after breaking the “Today” show’s 852-week win streak, “Good Morning America” slipped back to second place last week, according to just-released Nielsen ratings.

“Today” drew 5.253 million viewers  to “GMA’s” 5.010 million for the week of April 16. Also some good news for “CBS This Morning.” The perennial third-pace show is up in households, Total Viewers, and A25-54 compared to the same week last year, but still a distant third with 2.527 million viewers. We’ll have the complete Morning Show ratings coming up later.

“GMA” won the week of April 9, 2012 — the first time they’d done so since December, 1995 — during a week that saw Matt Lauer on vacation and two big name guests on “GMA”: Tim Tebow and, as George Stephanopoulos acknowledged on “The View” Tuesday, Sherri Shepard. Also on “The View,” Barbara Walters asked the GMA anchors, “How do you continue, what do you feel you all have to do?”

“It think we have to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Robin Roberts. “And that’s having a lot of fun.” Watch, after the jump…

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(l-r) ABC News SVP James Goldston, Josh Elliott, Robin Roberts, ABC News president Ben Sherwood, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion, Lara Spencer, GMA EP Tom Cibrowski

More than 200 ABC News staffers packed the 5th floor newsroom this morning for a toast and celebration of “Good Morning America” breaking the “Today” show’s winning streak that lasted 16 years and 16 weeks.

ABC News president Ben Sherwood, who was executive producer of the show when it came within striking distance in 2005, gave two toasts: first to his colleagues at NBC, acknowledging the streak, and a second to his team and all those who came before, including former longtime executives David Westin, Jim Murphy, Phyllis McGrady and Shelley Ross, who was EP of the show for more than five years, beginning in 1999.

One longtime ABCNewser emailed, “The energy in the building is electric.” Sherwood, who first joined ABC News in 1989 talked about how before the streak, “We’d win a week, they’d win a week, then we’d win.” The back-and-forth ended on Dec. 11, 1995 when “Today” began its until-now unbroken 852-week winning streak. Sherwood himself jumped to NBC News in 1997 working on “Nightly News” before returning to ABC to oversee “GMA” in 2004. Sherwood talked about how many of the the show’s current staffers were in junior high or high school in 1995. News anchor Josh Elliott had just graduated from college.

Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo, former anchors on the show were in attendance while the current team of Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion, Lara Spencer and Elliott said a few words.

James Goldston who oversees the show as SVP, as well as Senior EP Tom Cibrowski also spoke. There was a lot of hugging, an insider tells us.

More pictures after the jump…

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With final Nielsen numbers now out, ABC’s “Good Morning America” has topped NBC’s “Today” for the first time in more than 16 years. The win was projected Monday with the release of Friday’s preliminary numbers. In the end, “GMA” widened the win by a still-slim 31,000 viewers. “Today” continues the winning streak in A25-54 viewers to 885 weeks (longer than the Total Viewer streak had been). “Today” had 257,000 more younger demo viewers than “GMA.”

Rightly, ABC News president Ben Sherwood is taking a victory lap: “All of us at ABC News salute the dynamic team at ‘Good Morning America’ who never sleep and who care so deeply about the program.”

Of course, we congratulate our friends at “Today” for the greatest winning streak in broadcasting history and for their excellence and leadership during this historic run. It’s a special day for ABC News and, after a proper celebration 852 weeks in the making, we’ll get right back to work to be ready tomorrow to help “GMA” viewers start their day with a rewarding experience and big picture understanding of the world.

After Monday’s projected win, “Today” show executive producer Jim Bell commented that the “852-week winning streak had taken on a life of its own and as odd as it is to see it end, we should acknowledge just how remarkable it has been.”

So as we tip our caps to the team at “Good Morning America,” we can also take a bow ourselves and recognize the work done by countless staffers for so long. It is not an overstatement to call it one of the most incredible achievements in television history, one that is not likely to ever happen again. While the streak has been wonderful affirmation of our work, it has never defined us, and we will continue to innovate, take chances and lead the way.

On Monday, December 11, 1995, the “Today” show reported on a snowstorm in Buffalo, U.S. Marines arriving in Bosnia, Michael Jackson‘s collapse during an on-stage rehearsal, and the possibility of MSN and NBC starting a 24-hour cable news channel. That was also the day the show began its run as the #1 morning show on TV. Jeff Zucker was three years into his run as EP of the show, Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric were co-anchors and Matt Lauer was the newsreader

Compared to the same week last year only “GMA” showed growth: +7% in both Total Viewers and younger viewers. With Matt Lauer on vacation, “Today” was down -9% in Total Viewers and down -13% in younger viewers. While “CBS This Morning” also continues a downward trend from the “Early Show” of last year: down -6% and down -3%

The averages for the week of April 9:

• Total Viewers: NBC: 5.14M / ABC: 5.17M / CBS: 2.51M

• A25-54 viewers: NBC: 2.23M / ABC: 1.97M / CBS: 994K

It’s party time at ABC News. The final Nielsen numbers are in and “Good Morning America” will win its first week in Total Viewers since 1995. And to celebrate, ABC News president Ben Sherwood is calling an all-staff celebration this morning.

“It’s official!” writes Sherwood in a memo to staff this morning. “‘Good Morning America’ won last week by 31K total viewers, breaking Today’s historic streak.”

At 11 a.m., please join the GMA anchors and staff in the newsroom on the fifth (5th) floor for a toast to this great team and achievement … 852 weeks in the making. It’s a very special day for ABC News. Congratulations to each and every one of you!

Monday’s preliminary numbers put the weekly win at 13,000, but widened to 31,000 with the final results. We’ll have the regular weekly ratings post later this morning.

If the numbers hold up, “GMA” will beat the “Today” show in total viewers for the first time in more than 16 years. “Today’s” winning streak in younger viewers will be extended to 884 weeks as the show drew 254,000 more A25-54 viewers than “GMA.”

“GMA’s” projected win comes as the show took just two of the five days last week: Wednesday and Friday, and as newly re-signed Matt Lauer took a vacation from “Today.” “Good Morning America” has been winning Wednesday because of the “Dancing with the Stars” afterglow. Last Wednesday that included an in-studio interview with Sherri Shepherd who got the boot Tuesday night. On Wednesday, “GMA” had a 366,000 viewer lead on “Today.” The ABC show has also been winning a Friday here and there. And last Friday the 13th was a good won for the show as it included Robin Roberts‘s interview with New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow and his mom and outdrawing “Today” by 333,000 viewers.

Let’s break down the numbers for the week of April 9, which add up to a 13,000 viewer projected win for “Good Morning America.”

With the overnight ratings for Friday’s show just released, ABC’s “Good Morning America” appears to have won an entire week in the ratings — a feat which has not been accomplished in 852 weeks, since Dec., 1995 when Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric were the “Today” anchors.

On Friday, “GMA” had a 333,000 total viewer lead on “Today,” enough to put it over the top for the week winning by just 13,000 viewers.

Last week was seen as the week “GMA” could have toppled “Today” for a couple reasons: “GMA” has been gaining ground, and last week, “Today” anchor Matt Lauer was on vacation while the full “GMA” team was in place. As of Thursday’s show, “Today” had a +63,000 lead, but with “GMA’s” big win Wednesday (+366,000) and then Friday, that was enough. These are preliminary projections with final Nielsen numbers out Thursday morning.

“Everybody’s thrilled and cautiously optimistic that this holds up for the final numbers on Thursday,” an ABC insider tells TVNewser.

Here are the total viewer gaps, showing “Today’s” lead, for the last few weeks:

• March 19: +137,000

• March 26: +119,000

• April 2:- +187,000

• April 9: -13,000

As we told you on Monday, “Today” was the winner for the week of April 2. With Sarah Palin, Ryan Seacrest and the news of a new contract for Matt Lauer, NBC increased its Total-Viewer lead on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to 190,000, the highest it has been in three weeks.

ABC’s “Good Morning America” was the only show to improve on its year-ago averages, +3% in Total Viewers and +3% in A25-54 viewers with Katie Couric filling in for Robin Roberts. “Today” was down -5% and -12%, respectively.

Although “CBS This Morning” was down -5% in Total Viewers and -4% in A25-54 viewers, the show saw a year-over-year gain of +11% in women A25-54. Oprah Winfrey was the marquee guest on CBS’s morning show last Monday.

The averages for the week of April 2:

• Total Viewers: NBC: 5.11M / ABC: 4.92M / CBS: 2.47M

• A25-54 viewers: NBC: 2.14M / ABC: 1.83M / CBS: 1.01M

On Friday, NBC’s “Today” show held off ABC’s “Good Morning America” to win the day, and the week that saw highly-publicized ratings stunts we haven’t seen in a long time. According to Nielsen Fast National data, GMA got within +25,000 Total Viewers on Friday (it won in Total Viewers on Wednesday). “Today” won the demo each day. The news about the news culminated Friday with Matt Lauer announcing he’s signed a contract extension.

Compared to the same week last year, “GMA” was up +2% in Total Viewers and up +3% in A25-54 viewers, while “Today” was down -5% in Total Viewers and down -12% in younger viewers. Last year the gap was +567,000 Total Viewers. This year “Today” leads by less than half that, +210,000. The younger viewer gap has also been cut by more than half.

For the week of April 2, 2012:

• “Today” — 5,109,000 / 2,135,000

• “GMA” — 4,899,000 / 1,829,000

Here is a look at the week, day-by-day. The “Today” show’s best day in Total Viewers was Tuesday, when Sarah Palin guest co-hosted. The best day in the demo was Wednesday, when Ryan Seacrest was on. GMA’s best day in both Total Viewers and the demo was Wednesday, the morning after the “Dancing with the Stars” results show.

The TV critics are assessing last week’s morning show stunts.

“Television news now feasts on fame, the gaudier the better, with journalistic credentials a mere afterthought,” writes Newsweek/Daily Beast’s Howie Kurtz, who talked to two former “Today” show hosts about last week’s ratings grabbers — including Sarah Palin co-hosting last Tuesday — a response to Katie Couric‘s fill-in on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

The star-making machinery has changed. When Today tapped Jane Pauley in 1976, she says, “I was 25 years old, four years out of college. I was extremely unknown.” Today alumnus Bryant Gumbel, who says he was “embarrassed” by the Palin stint, believes hosts “used to be judged not just on their popularity level but the extent to which they were capable of interviewing someone or reporting on a situation, or able to have a degree of gravitas. Now that is secondary to being popular.”

The New York Times’ Bill Carter and Brian Stelter sum up the week and the ongoing horse race between “Today” and “GMA,” revealing Katie Couric could return to ABC’s mornings:

Senior ABC staff members characterized NBC’s stunt bookings as desperate. But those at NBC suggested that ABC’s use of Ms. Couric, who left ‘Today’ in 2006, and the overall win-at-all-costs approach showed desperation. [GMA Senior EP Tom] Cibrowski disputed that and said Ms. Couric could fill in again in the future, perhaps when Mr. Stephanopoulos takes a vacation.

As of Thursday’s ratings, “Today” was holding off the hard-charging “GMA.” We’ll have Friday’s Fast National numbers this afternoon, and final weekly ratings for last week on Thursday.