All Shows Down, Margins Remain The Same
Full Data for NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’ Early Show Ratings:
| Week Beginning | ABC Good Morning America, Viewers Live+SD (million) | CBS Early Show, Viewers Live+SD (million) | NBC Today Show, Viewers Live+SD (million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/30/07 | 4.36 | 2.32 | 4.77 |
| 8/6/07 | 4.29 | 2.30 | 4.86 |
| 8/13/07 | 4.47 | 2.45 | 4.59 |
| 8/20/07 | 4.63 | 2.61 | 4.93 |
| 8/27/07 | 4.37 | 2.51 | 5.05 |
| 9/3/07 | 4.61 | 2.44 | 5.2 |
| 9/10/07 | 4.83 | 2.48 | 5.41 |
| 9/17/07 | 4.74 | 2.61 | 5.34 |
| 9/24/07 | 4.79 | 2.59 | 5.34 |
| 10/1/07 | 4.74 | 2.61 | 5.34 |
| 10/8/07 | 4.89 | 2.55 | 5.15 |
| 10/15/07 | 5.12 | 2.52 | 5.36 |
| 10/22/07 | 5.05 | 2.71 | 5.43 |
| 10/29/07 | 5.03 | 2.62 | 5.22 |
| 11/5/07 | 5.08 | 2.84 | 5.82 |
| 11/12/07 | 5.07 | 2.88 | 5.71 |
| 11/19/07 | 4.91 | 2.65 | 5.62 |
| 11/26/07 | 5.12 | 2.86 | 5.72 |
| 12/3/07 | 5.14 | 3.08 | 6.03 |
| 12/10/07 | 5.09 | 3.05 | 5.85 |
| 12/17/07 | 4.79 | 2.93 | 5.67 |
| 12/24/07 | 3.85 | 2.78 | 4.47 |
| 12/31/07 | 4.39 | 2.63 | 5.75 |
| 1/7/08 | 4.58 | 3.08 | 5.82 |
| 1/14/08 | 4.73 | 3.33 | 5.85 |
| 1/21/08 | 4.79 | 3.16 | 6.05 |
| 1/28/08 | 4.90 | 3.31 | 6.12 |
| 2/4/08 | 5.01 | 3.12 | 5.96 |
| 2/11/08 | No data | No data | No data |
| 2/18/08 | 4.60 | 3.15 | 6.07 |
| 2/25/08 | 5.00 | 2.91 | 6.22 |
| 3/3/08 | 4.80 | 3.10 | 6.20 |
| 3/10/08 | 4.40 | 2.80 | 5.62 |
| 3/17/08 | 4.40 | 2.70 | 5.60 |
| 3/24/08 | 4.41 | 2.66 | 5.49 |
| 3/31/08 | 4.44 | 2.84 | 5.63 |
| 4/7/08 | 4.64 | 2.88 | 5.58 |
| 4/14/08 | 4.44 | 2.77 | 5.54 |
| 4/21/08 | 4.55 | 2.69 | 5.52 |
| 4/28/08 | 4.64 | 2.74 | 6.07 |
| 5/5/08 | 4.50 | 2.86 | 5.62 |
| 5/12/08 | 4.50 | 2.90 | 5.80 |
| 5/19/08 | 4.67 | 2.65 | 5.60 |
| 5/26/08 | 4.20 | 2.60 | 5.60 |
| 6/2/08 | 4.20 | 2.59 | 5.33 |
| 6/9/08 | 4.06 | 2.54 | 5.21 |
| 6/16/08 | 4.06 | 2.40 | 5.26 |
| 6/23/08 | 3.85 | 2.46 | 4.92 |
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
June 19th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
CBS does so well in prime time and has had the top news magazine show in 60 minutes for decades now. Yet the morning and evening news shows are so far below the competition it makes me wonder why they just don't try something new. The first thing I would try is moving Katie Couric back to the mornings and try something new in the evening, maybe partnering with CNN or taking one of the 60 Minutes anchors (Steve Kroft? Bob Simon?) and putting them on in the evening.
June 19th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Daniel, I definitely think that CBS should be able to come alot closer to ABC and NBC for Evening News and Morning Show ratings and their long term inability to do so is a mystery to me. It's not like those shows have any “secret sauce” that can't be copied.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Wow, GMA is coming DANGEROUSLY close to breaking the 4m mark — and the “real” summer doldrums haven't even begun yet. Plus NBC will definitely sweep ABC off the map come the summer olympics in a month or two.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:36 am
My guess is that people are just creatures of habit. I've watch the CBS morning show since the first time Harry Smith anchored and I've stayed with it ever since. I have a friend who automatically turns on The Today Show. I will, on days I am not working, occasionally switch to find out what is on the other shows, but for the time I have before work I just stick with the familiar. Actually I'm not sure what the CBS problem is either other than the above. I like Maggie and Russ and Harry and they seem like they are enjoying their time together. I do have a problem with the fact that their “Breaking News” too often is a repeat of a story that was on the Evening News the night before. Breaking news to me means it is happening now, not yesterday afternoon or last night. It is like those Special Report break-ins that are not special.