‘Today’ Poised to Mark 15 Years as Nation’s #1 Morning Show

On Saturday, NBC’s “Today” show will celebrate 15 uninterrupted years as the nation’s #1 morning broadcast.

The streak began December 11, 1995 when Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric anchored the program, Matt Lauer was the news reader and the show’s executive producer was a 30-year-old Jeff Zucker.

The closest “Today” got to losing its grip on the weekly ratings was in 2004-05 when ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” was must-see TV and whose ratings gave a boost to “Good Morning America.” But that didn’t last long, and “Today’s” lead has only grown since.

The streak continued last week as “Today” had a 1.08M Total Viewer lead over #2 “Good Morning America.”

The averages for the week of November 29:

• Total Viewers: NBC: 5.66M / ABC: 4.58M / CBS: 2.884M

• A25-54 rating: NBC: 2.62M / ABC: 1.77M / CBS: 1.21M

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