Morning Show Ratings

"Meet the Press with David Gregory was #1 again last week and for the second quarter of 2009 - the show's 47th consecutive quarterly win in Total Viewers. But the gap continues to narrow.

"Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer" was second in Total Viewers last week while "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" was second in younger viewers.

Schieffer's show is up 13% in both Total Viewers (3.00m from 2.66m) and A25-54 viewers compared to last year.

"This Week" continued to close the gap with "Meet" for the 21st consecutive week. Averaging 3.15 million Total Viewers, the ABC show is up 15% in Total Viewers and up 7% in the demo versus last year. This was the smallest Q2 gap between "This Week and "Meet" since 1998.

Total Viewers: NBC: 2,750,000 / CBS: 2,480,000 / ABC: 2,350,000 / FOX: 1,050,000

A25-54 demo: NBC: 890,000 / CBS: 720,000 / ABC: 780,000 / FOX: 420,000

"Meet the Press" was the most-watched Sunday public affairs show last week, but due NBC Sports' coverage of the U.S. Open the show was labeled a "special" and will not be included in the week or season-to-date Nielsen average. "Meet" aired at various times last Sunday because of the rain-delayed Open. CBS's "Face the Nation" came in first in A25-54 viewers, edging MTP.

Total Viewers: NBC: 2,560,000 / CBS: 2,510,000 / ABC: 2,320,000 / FOX: 920,000

A25-54 Viewers: NBC: 810,000 / CBS: 900,000 / ABC: 690,000 / FOX: 370,000

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Earlier we told you how Vice President Joe Biden's Sunday show interviews have been watched by fewer viewers with each appearance. Well, TVNewser has dug up the numbers from President (and when he was Pres.-elect) Obama's Sunday show appearances on three of the four Sunday shows.

The figures are in millions of Total Viewers & A25-54 viewers:

• 12/07/2008 — NBC's "Meet the Press" -- 6.56m/2.28m

• 01/11/2009 — ABC's "This Week" -- 4.34m/1.40m

• 03/29/2009 — CBS's "Face the Nation" -- 3.70m/1.40m

On the first Sunday following the switch to DTV, NBC's Meet the Press was again the #1 show in all categories. This was also the one-year anniversary of the death of longtime MTP moderator Tim Russert who was memorialized at the end of Sunday's show.

CBS's Face the Nation came in second place. Year-to-date, the Bob Schieffer broadcast is up 14% in Total Viewers and up 13% in A25-54 viewers compared to the same period last year.

Total Viewers: NBC: 3,099,000 / CBS: 2,642,000 / ABC: 2,330,000 / FOX: 1,035,000

A25-54 demo rating: NBC: .9 / CBS: .7 / ABC: .6 / FOX: .3

It was week #704 for NBC's Today show as the top-rated network morning show last week.

Last Tuesday, NBC beat ABC's Good Morning America by 1,890,000 Total Viewers, the largest single-day advantage since February 28, 2008 (excluding Olympics).

All three networks declined week-to-week.

Total Viewers: NBC: 5,419,000 / ABC: 4,115,000 / CBS: 2,578,000

A25-54 rating: NBC: 2.0 / ABC: 1.4 / CBS: .9

ABC's This Week was the top-rated Sunday morning public affairs show last week in both Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo. Meet the Press did not air due to French Open coverage.

Sec. of State Hillary Clinton was George Stephanopoulos' guest on Sunday.

Not surprisingly all three broadcasts grew week-to-week in Total Viewers (update: CBS was flat), while ABC and FOX were up in the demo as well. ABC was also the only network to grow year-to-year in both categories.

For Sunday May 31, 2009:

Total Viewers: ABC: 3,110,000 / CBS: 2,490,000 / FOX: 1,360,000

25-54 demo: ABC: 1,050,000 / CBS: 780,000 / FOX: 550,000

"Meet the Press with David Gregory" was again the #1 public affairs show last Sunday morning, but the gap between NBC and its competitors on CBS and ABC continues to shrink. Just 190,000 Total Viewers separated first place NBC and third place ABC. "Face the Nation" moderated by Bob Schieffer, the most senior member of the four show hosts, tied MTP in younger viewers with a .7 rating.

"Face" is also up 15% in Total Viewers and up 13% in A25-54 compared to last year. Last week ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" closed the total viewing gap with MTP by 87% (190,000 in '09 vs. 1,470,000 in '08) versus the same week last year. Season-to-date, "Meet the Press" is up 5% in Total Viewers versus the same period last season.

ABC and Fox increased week-to-week in both Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo while NBC and CBS were down week-to-week in both measurements.

For Sunday May 31, 2009:

Total Viewers: NBC: 2,620,000 / CBS: 2,490,000 / ABC: 2,430,000 / FOX: 1,140,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 900,000 / CBS: 850,000 / ABC: 770,000 / FOX: 410,000

• Related: FishbowlDC has the lineups for this Sunday's shows (MTP is preempted for French Open coverage)

So, here's how this week's "Today" show press release on their ratings win begins:

In Addition to Crushing GMA, "Today" Has More Than Doubled The Early Show's Total Viewer Delivery For the Second Straight Week.

NBC News' "Today" continues as the dominant morning news program completely dominating the competition in all categories.

Dominate much? Anyway, here's how GMA began their press release:

"GMA" ONLY MORNING NEWS PROGRAM TO INCREASE BOTH WEEK-TO-WEEK AND YEAR-TO-YEAR IN TOTAL VIEWERS AND ADULT 25-54 DEMO

"GOOD MORNING AMERICA" CUTS ADULT 25-54 GAP WITH NBC -- 17% SMALLER VS SAME TIME LAST WEEK; 13% SMALLER VS LAST YEAR "GMA" CUTS TOTAL VIEWER GAP WITH "TODAY" -- 10% SMALLER VS SAME TIME LAST YEAR

"GMA" CONTINUES TO WIDEN DEMO LEAD OVER CBS; SIXTH STRAIGHT WEEK OF ADULT 25-54 LOSSES FOR "THE EARLY SHOW"

FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WEEK OF TOTAL VIEWER DECLINES FOR CBS

NBC DROPS TO LOWEST TOTAL VIEWER DELIVERY SINCE THE WEEK OF MARCH 23, 2009

CBS DROPS TO LOWEST TOTAL VIEWER DELIVERY SINCE THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 13, 2008

CBS didn't send a release this week. Maybe a good thing.

As for the numbers for the week of May 25, 2009:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5,510,000 / ABC: 4,230,000 / CBS: 2,620,000

A25-54 demo: NBC: 2,560,000 / ABC: 1,860,000 / CBS: 1,060,000

"Meet the Press with David Gregory" was #1 again last week, but the gap continues to shrink in the Sunday morning ratings race. "Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer came in second place, up 33% in Total Viewers and up 17% in A25-54 viewers. And for the 17th consecutive week, "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" closed the Total Viewing gap with "Meet" by 59% versus the same weeks last year (570,000 in '09 vs. 1,400,000 in '08).

Total Viewers: NBC: 2,910,000 / CBS: 2,660,000 / ABC: 2,340,000 / FOX: 960,000

25-54 demo: NBC: 940,000 / ABC: 880,000 / CBS: 720,000 / FOX: 370,000

• Related: FishbowlDC has the rundown on tomorrow's shows...

The Today show led the pack again last week with a +1.35m Total Viewer lead over #2 "Good Morning America".

The NBC morning show also wins May sweeps averaging 5.61m Total Viewers to #2 GMA's 4.45m. This is the Today show's 54th straight sweeps win and the biggest May sweep victory in Total Viewers since 2003. Third-place "The Early Show" is the only morning broadcast to either grow or maintain its audience during sweeps in Total Viewers, Households and A25-54 viewers. CBS delivered more viewers during May 2009 than it has in last 14 years and cut the gap, year-over-year, with GMA by more than 300,000 viewers.

• Week of May 18

Total Viewers: NBC: 5,570,000 / ABC: 4,220,000 / CBS: 2,680,000

A25-54 rating/share: NBC: 2.1/15 / ABC: 1.4/10 / CBS: 0.9/6

• May Sweeps

Total Viewers: NBC: 5,610,000 / ABC: 4,450,000 / CBS: 2,920,000

A25-54 rating/share: NBC: 2.0/14 / ABC: 1.5/11 / CBS: 1.0/7

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