After two days of losing out to NBC's top-rated "Today" show despite an assist from Katie Couric this week, ABC's "Good Morning America" narrowly beat "Today" in viewership Wednesday, according to preliminary numbers.
This week has featured a slew of special guests on all three network morning shows. Couric is co-hosting "GMA" all week, Sarah Palin dropped by "Today" Tuesday, and Oprah Winfrey appeared on "CBS This Morning" on Monday.
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"Today" usually beats "GMA" by more than half a million total viewers, and continued to beat it Monday and Tuesday, though by smaller margins. On Wednesday, "GMA" had roughly 5.24 million viewers, compared to 5.15 million for "Today," beating it by 87,000 viewers, according to preliminary numbers.
'Today" still won among viewers 25-54, the demographic most important to news advertisers. "Today" had 2.25 million viewers in the demo compared to 1.93 million for "Today."
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"GMA" has averaged 5.4 million total viewers this season, while "GMA" has averaged 4.9 million. It isn't unprecedented for "GMA" to beat "Today," despite the seasonal average. In fact, "GMA" beat "Today" two days last week, even without Couric. She left "Today" in 2006.
No numbers were immediately available for "CBS This Morning," which is typically far behind "GMA" and "Today" in the ratings.
Couric took the morning show gig as she prepares to launch her own new daytime show in the fall.