May Sweep Ends With Meet in 1st, But on the Decline

NBC’s “Meet the Press” won the month of May for its 45th consecutive sweep victory, however the show lost nearly a quarter of its audience from last year.

“Meet the Press” dropped 23% in Total Viewers and 24% in the A25-54 demo from May 2008, posting its lowest Total Viewer average for a May sweep since 1993, which was also a post-Presidential election ratings month. ABC’s “This Week” and CBS’ “Face the Nation” were both up 3% in Total Viewers compared to last year, while FOX News Sunday was down 11%.

This was “This Week”‘s best May sweep since 1999.

Week-to-week, NBC, ABC and FOX grew in both Total Viewers and the demo while CBS declined.

May 17:
Total Viewers: NBC: 3,280,000 / ABC: 2,800,000 / CBS: 2,140,000 / FOX: 1,330,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 1,180,000 / ABC: 980,000 / CBS: 740,000 / FOX: 530,000

May 2009:
Total Viewers: NBC: 3,190,000 / ABC: 2,720,000 / ABC: 2,550,000 / FOX: 1,260,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 1,140,000 / ABC: 900,000 / CBS: 880,000 / FOX: 490,000

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