Morning Show Ratings

NBC's "Today" show finished at number one last week as all three morning shows saw an increase in viewers.

ABC's "Good Morning America," which saw the largest week-to-week increase in total viewers (+120K), was second and CBS' "Early Show" was third. NBC was up most in the A25-54 demo (+130K).

The averages for the week of Jan. 25:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.82M / ABC: 4.46M / CBS: 2.80M

A25-54: NBC: 2.71M / ABC: 1.95M / CBS: 1.16M

There was almost no change in audiences week-to-week for the three broadcast morning shows. NBC leads the way, followed by ABC and CBS.

Note: Monday was excluded due to the MLK day holiday.

The averages for the week of Jan. 18:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.73M / ABC: 4.34M / CBS: 2.76M

A25-54: NBC: 2.58M / ABC: 1.88M / CBS: 1.21M

NBC's "Today" show was the most watched morning program last week, a week in which all three programs focused heavily on the earthquake in Haiti. ABC's "Good Morning America" was second, followed by "The Early Show" on CBS.

All three programs were down in total viewers and the demo from the week prior.

The averages for the week of Jan. 11:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.73M / ABC: 4.34M / CBS: 2.92M

A25-54: NBC: 2.56M / ABC: 1.87M / CBS: 1.23M

After the short New Year's week, all three morning shows saw big week-to-week increases. NBC's "Today" show, which had the largest audience of three, was up nearly one million total viewers from the week prior and raised its average to the highest it's been since February of 2009.

ABC's "Good Morning America" had its biggest number in the demo since last March and its largest total audience since George Stephanopoulos started on the show.

CBS' "Early Show" average was up 500,000 total viewers from the New Year's week.

The average for the week of Jan. 4:

Total Viewers: NBC: 6.04M / ABC: 4.60M / CBS: 3.08M

A25-54: NBC: 2.75M / ABC: 2.04M / CBS: 1.20M

The Today show was tops again for the final week of 2009, with a 1.18M Total Viewer lead over #2 Good Morning America.

All three shows were excluded from the average on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

The average for the week of Dec. 21:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.05M / ABC: 3.87M / CBS: 2.57M

A25-54: NBC: 2.10M / ABC: 1.60M / CBS: 1.04M

continued...

The Christmas week was a short one for the morning shows -- due to the holiday, the ratings were based on a three-day (Mon-Wed) average -- but all three broadcasts were down from the week prior.

NBC retained its first-place position among the three programs. It was George Stephanopoulos' second week as an anchor on ABC's "Good Morning America."

The average for the week of Dec. 21:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.67M / ABC: 4.49M / CBS: 2.83M

A25-54: NBC: 2.45M / ABC: 1.91M / CBS: 1.20M

During his first week as co-anchor of "Good Morning America" George Stephanopoulos improved on the final week of Diane Sawyer in younger viewers -- the best A25-54 performance this season -- but not in Total Viewers.

NBC's "Today" show continued to lead as the top morning program also showing growth week-over-week and besting #2 GMA by 1.4M Total Viewers.

The average for the week of Dec. 16:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.98M / ABC: 4.60M / CBS: 2.87M

A25-54: NBC: 2.69M / ABC: 1.93M / CBS: 1.21M

For November sweeps 2009, the third hour of NBC's "Today" show drew more viewers than the syndicated "Regis & Kelly" for the first time since the year 2000, which was before Kelly Ripa became the show's co-host.

The "Today" third hour averaged 3.51 million total viewers compared to the 3.42 million averaged by "Regis & Kelly," which was its lowest ever average for November sweeps. "Today" averaged its highest total viewer November sweeps number since 2006.

"Today" was also up in A25-54, its first November sweeps victory in that demo since 2002.

Diane Sawyer's last week on ABC's "Good Morning America" was accompanied by increased week-to-week viewership across the morning shows. Even though Sawyer's farewell week delivered her show's best ratings in at least 7 months, NBC's "Today" show also saw a boost and won the week with nearly 6 million total viewers.

"GMA" saw the largest week-to-week increase, with an additional 510,000 total viewers (170,000 in the demo). On Sawyer's last day, ABC drew 5.18 million total viewers (2.01 million in the demo), but even on that day, 719,000 more viewers tuned in to "Today."

CBS' "Early Show" topped 3 million total viewers for the week, up 280K from the previous week.

The averages for the week of Dec. 7:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.97M / ABC: 4.75M / CBS: 3.01M

A25-54 demo: NBC: 2.67M / ABC: 1.92M / CBS: 1.25M

With last week's ratings, NBC's "Today" show marked 14 years as the top rated morning news program, the longest current winning streak in broadcast television for any program in any daypart.

The streak began December 11, 1995.

Last week, "Today" also had its largest lead over ABC's "Good Morning America" in total viewers since September of 2006.

The averages for the week of Nov. 30:

Total Viewers: NBC: 5.72M / ABC: 4.24M / CBS: 2.73M

A25-54 Rating: NBC: 2.1 / ABC: 1.4 / CBS: 0.9