NBC’s “Today” show was the most-watched morning show in total viewers and the key demo for the month of December, marking its first non-Olympic monthly win in both categories since June 2012.
‘Today” averaged 4.8 million viewers to edge ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which averaged 4.6 million. Among the key news demo of adults age 25-54, “Today” averaged 1.7 million viewers compared to 1.5 million for “GMA.”
“CBS This Morning” finished third in both categories, averaging 3.6 million total viewers and 1 million in the demo.
ABC’s “GMA” typically wins the total-viewer crown, while “Today” has a habit of winning the key demo. For example, “GMA” averaged 4.6 million viewers for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to 4.57 million for “Today.” NBC has won the demo for 17 consecutive months, but the total viewer victory came as something as a surprise for the show, which is without co-host Savannah Guthrie, who is on maternity leave.
NBC’s monthly win comes as the show gears up for former co-host Katie Couric to co-anchor during the first week of January in Guthrie’s absence. Couric co-anchored NBC’s morning show from 1991-2006, a 15-year span that featured her with current co-host Matt Lauer and, before that, Bryant Gumbel.