Hoda Kotb’s return to “Today” boosted the NBC morning show’s ratings above competitor “Good Morning America” last week.
“Today” topped “GMA” both in total viewers and in the key news demographic of adults 25-54 for the week of Sept. 2, according to Nielsen. Overall, Kotb’s first week back from maternity leave pulled in an average of 3.872 million live-plus-same-day viewers compared to “GMA’s” 3.835 million. In the demo, the numbers were 1.202 million to 1.150.
“CBS This Morning” finished third with 2.930 million overall and 753,000 in the demo.
Due to the Labor Day holiday, Monday’s episode of each of the three morning shows are considered specials and do not factor into Nielsen’s weekly ratings, which cover Tuesday through Friday.
In general, “GMA” tends to edge out “Today” in total viewers, while the NBC show has kept a stranglehold on the news demo audience for much of the last four years. That dynamic has seen some upheaval in recent weeks, with “Today’s” overall win last week and “GMA’s” two-week streak in the demo last month.
Both shows are down year-over-year, however, with “Today” down 13% among adults 25-54 and flat overall and “GMA” down 4% in the demo and 5% overall.