GMA Equals Best News Demo Performance In 11 Quarters On ABC

Ratings Report: ABC News Programming For Fourth Quarter 2011 and Week of December 19 - December 23, 2011

4Q 2011:
For 4th Quarter 2011, ABC News' "Good Morning America" averaged 4.842 million Total Viewers and a 1.6/11/1.906 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research.  "GMA" improved on the previous quarter (3Q11) in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 25-54 (+12%), equaling its best news demo performance in 11 quarters - since 1Q09.  

"GMA" saw increases on the year-ago quarter (4Q10) of 9% in Total Viewers and 10% in Adults 25-54, growing the most on the year-ago quarter in overall viewers and qualifying as the only morning program to grow in the key adult news demo (NBC's "Today:" +1%/-5%, respectively; CBS' "Early Show:" -8%/-10%, respectively).  Furthermore, "GMA" improved on the year-ago week in all 14 weeks of the 4th quarter in Adults 25-54 and in 13 of 14 weeks in Total Viewers.
  
"GMA" decreased its margins with "Today" compared to the previous quarter (3Q11) in both Total Viewers (-1% - 590,000 vs. 593,000) and Adults 25-54 (-12% - 501,000 vs. 569,000).  Decreasing its margins with "Today" for the 4th consecutive quarter, "GMA" posted its smallest gaps with "Today" during any quarter in 4 years - since 4Q07.

"GMA" bettered CBS' "Early Show" during 4Q11 by 2.298 Total Viewers (4.842 million vs. 2.544 million) and by 865,000 Adults 25-54 (1.906 million vs. 1.041 million), representing "GMA's" largest news demo lead over the CBS program during any quarter in 4 years (since 4Q07) and largest Total Viewer advantage during a 4th quarter in 6 years (since 4Q05).

Week of December 19, 2011
ABC News' "Good Morning America" drew 4.644 Total Viewers and 1.5/11/1.811 million Adults 25-54 for the week of December 19, 2011.   "GMA" improved in Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 25-54 (+7%) on the year-ago week (4.553 million and 1.700 million on w/o 12/20/11), standing as the only morning newscast to grow year to year (NBC's "Today" was flat/-5%, respectively; CBS' "Early Show" was down -10%/-5%, respectively).   

For the 14th time in 14 weeks of the season, "GMA" decreased its year-earlier margins with "Today" in both Total Viewers (-14% - 690,000 vs. 807,000) and in Adults 25-54 (-31% - 547,000 vs. 792,000).  Additionally, for the 2nd week in a row, "GMA" decreased its Total Viewer margin with the NBC program versus the prior week (-9% - 690,000 vs. 760,000).   

Season to date, "GMA" narrowed its gaps in both Total Viewers (-37%) and Adults 25-54 (-38%) versus its year-ago season gaps, posting its smallest margins (590,000 and 501,000, respectively) with "Today" in 4 years - since the 2007-08 season.
"GMA" paced ahead of CBS' "Early Show" by 2.212 million Total Viewers (4.644 million vs. 2.432 million) and by 778,000 Adults 25-54 (1.811 million vs. 1.033 million).

Season to date "GMA" is up the most among network morning news programs in Viewers (+9%), and is the only morning program to grow in Adults 25-54 (+10%) versus year-ago averages (NBC's "Today" is up +1% and down -5%, respectively; CBS' "Early Show" is down -8% and -10%, respectively). "GMA" is seeing its largest overall season audience in 4 years, since the 2007-08 Season.
Note:  Due to the Christmas holiday, "Good Morning America" was re-titled "Good Morning Amer" on Friday (12/23/11) and is excluded from the average. NBC's "Today" and CBS' "Early Show" are based on 5 days.

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. James Goldston is senior executive producer and Tom Cibrowski is executive producer.