A week after the two morning programs turned in a virtualtie in the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demo, ABC's Good Morning America beat out NBC's Today the week of July 23, ending Today's 879-week streak.
GMA outdrew Today by just 12,000 demo viewers (1.851
million v. 1.839 million) to rank No. 1 for the first time since September
1995. GMA also topped Today in total viewers for the week by
542,000 viewers, its widest margin in 17 years, and its fifth consecutive
weekly win.
The win comes at a critical time, as Today has undergone an anchor transition from Ann Curry to Savannah
Guthrie and moved the show to London for NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games, which
NBC brass hope will revitalize the newly vulnerable morning show.
For the first two days this week however, since the Olympics
have officially begun, Today has
posted its largest demo margin (902,000 adults 25-54) over GMA this season. It also won both days in total viewers, topping GMA by 1.5 million viewers on Monday and
1.1 million viewers on Tuesday.
