Around the Net

NBC, ABC Battle For Morning TV Supremacy

  • Bloomberg, Thursday, August 25, 2011 1:45 PM
NBC's "Today" show, is heading into the fall TV season with a new co-host -- Ann Curry -- and a challenge to its 15-year dominance -- ABC. Curry joined Matt Lauer as "Today" co-host in June, to replace Meredith Vieira. Both "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America" attract more viewers than a year ago, but NBC's lead has shrunk to a four-year-low, Nielsen reports.

Since Curry became co-host, "Today" is averaging 5.03 million viewers daily, up 6.7% from 2010, while ABC's "Good Morning America" is averaging 4.46 million, up 15%.

The gains by "Good Morning America" have been driven by its guests, including President Barack Obama, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Donald Trump, according to Harry Keeshan, chief investment officer at Omnicom Group's PHD USA media planning and buying unit in New York. Its clients include Safeway Inc. and HBO.

advertisement

advertisement

Read the whole story at Bloomberg »

Next story loading loading..