Originally published by Adweek
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The final week of April saw NBC News’ Today and ABC News’ Good Morning America continue to battle it out for first place in total viewers. Today’s lead over GMA shrank to just 56,000 total viewers, signifying the intense competitiveness between the two morning shows.
Meanwhile, all three networks grew in total viewers, but they encountered week-to-week declines in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo.
NOTE: Good Morning America was retitled to GMA-ABC and Today was retitled to Today-TS on Tuesday (04/28/26). CBS Mornings was retitled to CBS Morn on Wednesday (04/29/26). These retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. ABC’s and NBC’s weekly averages are based on four days, Monday and Wednesday-Friday. While CBS’ weekly averages are also based on four days, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
According to Nielsen’s national live+same-day big data plus program ratings, GMA averaged 2.961 million total viewers and 475,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of April 27.Compared to the previous week, ABC News’ morning show was up by +1% in total viewers but down by -6% in the demo. When looking at how it performed in the same week in 2025, GMA was up by +10% in total viewers and +7% in the demo.
Today remained on top in total viewers and the demo with 3.014 million and 597,000 viewers, respectively, for the just-concluded week. The broadcast had a +1% gain in total viewers but fell by -7% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. When put up againstthe same week in 2025, Today was up +17% in total viewers and was flat in the demo.
CBS Mornings had 1.815 million total viewers and 298,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of April 27. Compared to the previous week, CBS News’ morning show was up by +3% in total viewers but had a decline of -4% in the demo. Versus the same week in 2025, CBS Mornings was down -6% in total viewers and -1% in the demo—the only morning show with declines within this year-to-year comparison.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
April 27, 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 4/27/26), Previous Week (w/o 4/20/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/28/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25–5/3/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24–5/4/25). Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season.
Mark MwachiroMark 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 [email protected]
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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