"GMA" Wins the November 2012 Sweep: First Time in Nearly Two Decades

Alyssa Bernstein

November 2012 Sweep

ABC News' "Good Morning America" won the 2012 November sweep in both Total Viewers (5.314 million) and Adults 25-54 (2.023 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "GMA" scored its first sweeps victory in the key adult news demo in more than 18 years - since July 1994. In addition, "GMA" led a November sweep in Total Viewers for the first time in 17 years - since November 1995.

"GMA" beat NBC's "Today" (4.847 million and 1.995 million) by +467,000 Total Viewers and +28,000 Adults 25-54. "GMA's" margins over "Today" in November were its largest in Total Viewers during any sweep in more than 17 years and biggest in Adults 25-54 in more than 18 years - since May 1995 and May 1994, respectively.

For the 2nd year in a row, "GMA" was up over the year-ago sweep (4.950 million and 1.944 million, respectively, for November 2011) in both Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+4%). In fact, "GMA" attracted its largest overall November sweep audience in 8 years and highest November demo performance in 4 years - since November 2004 and November 2008.

Compared to the previous sweep (4.598 million and 1.721 million July 2012), "GMA" saw double-digit growth in Total Viewers (+16%) and Adults 25-54 (+18%), giving the ABC morning newscast its most-watched sweep in more than 7 years - since May 2005.

"GMA" nearly doubled the performance of "CBS This Morning" during the November sweep in both Total Viewers (+92%) and Adults 25-54 (+93%), leading the CBS program by its largest Total Viewer sweep advantage (2.541 million) in more than 21 years - since at least November 1991; Nielsen's electronic database started on September of 1991.

Week of November 19, 2012

For the week of November 19, 2012, "Good Morning America" drew 5.174 Total Viewers and a 1.7 rating/12 share/ 1.976 million Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. "GMA" outdrew NBC's "Today" (4.688 million) by+ 486,000 to lead the week in Total Viewers, ranking No. 1 in all 9 weeks of the season to-date. Furthermore, "GMA" has been No. 1 in the last 15 weeks and in 20 of the last 22 weeks overall (behind only during the 2 weeks of the Olympics).

For the week, "GMA" staked claim to the week's No. 1 morning telecast with its Tuesday airing (11/20/12) in both Total Viewers (5.467 million) and Adults 25-54 (2.138 million). "GMA" has held the week's top morning telecast in every week this season in overall viewers and in 7 of 9 weeks in the key adult news demo.

"GMA" posted increases over its year-ago performance for the 4th week running in both Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 25-54 (+6%) - 5.008 million and 1.859 million, respectively, on w/o 11/21/11. In addition, the ABC program was as the only morning newscast to grow year to year in both measures, as "CBS This Morning" was mixed (+9%/-5%) , while NBC's "Today Show" turned in double-digits losses (-16%/-15%).

On Wednesday, November 28, 2012, of the current week, "GMA" outdelivered "Today" by +1.299 million Total Viewers (5.687 million vs. 4.388 million) and by +218,000 Adults 25-54 (2.133 million vs. 1.915 million), based on Nielsen Fast Affiliate time period data. This represents "GMA's" largest single-day Total Viewer margin over "Today" in more than 8 years - since at least September 2004.

Season to date, "GMA" stands as the No. 1 morning news program in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. In fact, "GMA" is leading "Today" by its largest season margin in overall viewers (+528,000) and in the key adult news demo (+128,000) in 21 years - since the 1991-92 season.

Season to date "GMA" is up in both Total Viewers (+5%) and Adults 25-54 (+3%) versus its year-ago averages, growing the most year to year in the key adult news demo (NBC's "Today" is down -16%/-23%, respectively; CBS' "This Morning" is mixed +4%/-3%, respectively). "GMA" is seeing its largest overall season audience in 7 years and best Adults 25-54 performance in 5 years - since the 2005-06 and 2007-08 seasons, respectively.

"GMA" nearly doubled the performance of "CBS This Morning" in Total Viewers (+94%), while more than doubling in Adults 25-54 (+114%), leading the CBS program by its largest news demo advantage (1.051 million) of the season.

Note: With Thanksgiving week, "Good Morning America" and "CBS This Morning" were coded as specials on Thursday and Friday and "CBS This Morning" was coded as specials from Wednesday thru Friday. All specials are excluded from the weekly averages. ABC's and NBC's weekly averages are based on three days (Mon-Wed), while CBS' weekly average is based on two days (Mon and Tues).

NOVEMBER 2012 SWEEP: TOTAL VIEWERS ADULTS 25-54 HOUSEHOLDS ABC 5,314,000 1.7/12; 2,023,000 4.0/14 NBC 4,847,000 1.7/12; 1,995,000 3.7/13 CBS 2,773,000 0.9/ 6; 1,048,000 2.1/ 7 WEEK OF 11/19/12 TOTAL VIEWERS ADULTS 25-54 HOUSEHOLDS ABC 5,174,000 1.7/12; 1,976,000 3.9/14 NBC 4,688,000 1.7/12; 2,005,000 3.5/13 CBS 2,672,000 0.8/ 5; 925,000 2.0/ 7

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 11/19/12, 11/12/12 & 11/21/11. Most Current - 2011-2012 Season (9/24 - 11/25/12) and 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 11/27/11). November 2012 Sweep (10/25-11/21/12), November 2011 Sweep (10/27-11/23/11) and July 2012 Sweep (6/28 - 7/25/12). Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). All averages based on regular telecasts.

Emmy Award-winning "GMA," featuring the anchor team of Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Sam Champion, Lara Spencer and Josh Elliott, airs live Mon.-Fri. (7:00-9:00 a.m., ET) on ABC. Tom Cibrowski is senior executive producer.

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