The week of April 20 finished with a tight race in total viewers between NBC News’ Today and ABC News’ Good Morning America. The two morning shows were separated by 72,000 total viewers, with Today continuing to lead.
Today, despite its first-place finish in total viewers, dipped below the 3 million viewers mark, while GMA was the only broadcast to finish the week with gains in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.
However, all three networks registered positive week-to-week movement in the advertiser-coveted demo.
According to Nielsen’s national live+same-day big data plus program ratings, GMA averaged 2.924 million total viewers and 508,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of April 20. Compared to the previous week, ABC News’ morning show was up by +1% in total viewers and +5% in the demo. When looking at how it performed in the same week in 2025, GMA was up by +10% in total viewers and +9% in the demo.
Today continued to occupy the top newscast in total viewers and the demo with 2.996 million and 639,000 viewers, respectively, for the just-concluded week. The broadcast was flat in total viewers but grew by +2% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. When put up against the same week in 2025, Today was up +17% in total viewers and +5% in the demo.
CBS Mornings had 1.756 million total viewers and 310,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of April 20. Compared to the previous week, CBS News’ morning show was down -2% in total viewers but up +4% in the demo. However, versus the same week in 2025, CBS Mornings was down -7% in total viewers and -1% in the demo—the only morning show with declines in this year-to-year comparison.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
April 20, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 2,924,000 | 2,996,000 | 1,756,000 |
| • A25-54: | 508,000 | 639,000 | 310,000 |
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 4/20/26), Previous Week (w/o 4/13/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/19/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25–4/26/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24–4/27/25). Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season.
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