"Good Morning America" is having a good run of it in the ratings. ABC's breakfast broadcast scored the top spot for the second time in three weeks, once again besting its long-running rival, NBC's "Today."
"GMA" pulled 5.297 million total viewers in the week of April 23, beating "Today," which drew 5.131 million, by a margin of 166,000, according to preliminary Nielsen numbers.
Also read: 'GMA' Ratings Top 'Today' for 1st Week in 16 Years
Two weeks ago, when "GMA" first broke what had been an 852-week winning streak for "Today," the dueling shows had just featured guest anchoring stints by Katie Couric and Sarah Palin, respectively. Both shows featured their regular lineups over the past week.
ABC's morning show ranked first for three days out of the past week — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — another first in over 16 years. But "Today" kept its stranglehold on the 25-54 demographic with 2.233 million viewers in that group compared to 2.139 million for "GMA."
NBC is gearing up to pose a new challenge in the form of multitasking broadcaster Ryan Seacrest, who officially signed on as of April 27 to join the "Today" crew as a special correspondent.