ADWEEK; ABC, CBS, NBC By Mark Mwachiro --> In a week where all three morning shows finished with week-to-week gains in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo, NBC News’ Today remained the most-watched morning show in America.
NBC News’ morning show comfortably held onto the top spot in total viewers, extending its lead over ABC News’ Good Morning America to over 100,000 in both measured categories. It also finished above the 600,000 viewership mark in the prized demo, while GMA was the only newscast to record double-digit growth within this category.
According to Nielsen’s national live+same-day big data plus program ratings, GMA averaged 2.761 million total viewers and 516,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of Aug. 24. Compared to the previous week , ABC News’ morning show was up +1% in total viewers and +17% in the demo. When looking at how it performed in the same week in 2025, GMA grew +8% in total viewers and +11% in the demo.
Today finished in first place in total viewers and the demo with 2.863 million and 617,000 viewers, respectively, for the week that just ended. Today grew by +2% in total viewers and +6% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. When put up against the same week in 2025 , Today was up +16% in total viewers and +9% in the demo.
CBS Mornings had 1.652 million total viewers and 263,000 viewers in the demo for the week of Aug. 24. Compared to the previous week, CBS News’ morning show had gains of +3% in total viewers and +2% in the demo. Versus the same week in 2025, CBS Mornings saw declines of -4% in total viewers and -15% in the demo—the only newscast not to grow in both measured categories within this yearly comparison.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
August 24, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings Current Week (w/o 8/24/26), Previous Week (w/o 8/17/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 8/25/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25–8/30/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24–8/31/25). Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season.
Mark Mwachiro is a TVNewser contributor who has been writing for the blog since March 2022. Based out of New York, Mark has also contributed to ADWEEK.
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