CBS’ Face the Nation had its most Total Viewers since January 23, 2005 last Sunday, helped by an interview with President Barack Obama. Still, NBC’s Meet the Press was the top program in Total Viewers. Face the Nation won in the A25-54 demo.

For the first quarter of 2009, ABC’s This Week closed the Total Viewers gap with Meet the Press by 42% compared to Q1 ’08. It is the smallest gap between the two programs in the first quarter since 1998. ABC topped CBS for 2nd place in Total Viewers for the 7th consecutive quarter. It was NBC’s 46th consecutive quarter at #1.

Week of March 23:

Total Viewers: NBC: 3,930,000 / CBS: 3,700,000 / ABC: 3,100,000 / FOX: 1,350,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 1,370,000 / CBS: 1,400,000 / ABC: 1,020,000 / FOX: 500,000

Q1 ’09:

Total Viewers: NBC: 4,160,000 / ABC: 3,360,000 / CBS: 3,190,000 / FOX: 1,480,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 1,480,000 / ABC: 1,140,000 / CBS: 1,140,000 / FOX: 550,000

March 2009:

Total Viewers: NBC: 3,980,000 / ABC: 3,150,000 / CBS: 3,020,000 / FOX: 1,290,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 1,410,000 / ABC: 1,030,000 / CBS: 1,070,000 / FOX: 460,000