Week of Aug 3 Morning News Ratings: Today Has Narrow Win

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Week of Aug 3 Morning News Ratings: Today Has Narrow Win

It was a close race between Today and GMA

By Mark Mwachiro

NBC News’ Today has made it three weeks in a row as America’s most-watched morning broadcast. However, its latest win in TV terms can be viewed as happening by a whisker, as only 1,000 total viewers separated it from ABC News’ Good Morning America.

The two morning newscasts saw week-to-week declines in total viewers, but Today recovered nicely in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo, recording double-digit gains. It also significantly widened the viewership gap between the two morning shows to a difference of over 140,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, CBS News’ CBS Mornings finished the first full week of August as the only morning newscast with gains in both measured categories.

According to Nielsen’s national live+same-day big data plus program ratings, GMA averaged 2.729 million total viewers and 444,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo for the week of Aug. 3. Compared to the previous week , ABC News’ morning show was down -1% in total viewers and -8% in the demo—the only morning show with losses in both categories for the week. When looking at how it performed in the same week in 2025, GMA grew by +7% in total viewers and +2% in the demo.

Today was No. 1 in total viewers and the demo with 2.73 million and 592,000 viewers, respectively, for the week that just ended. It saw its lead over GMA shrink to just 1,000 total viewers, but its lead in the demo grew substantially from 32,000 the previous week to 148,000 for the concluded week. Today slipped by -2% in total viewers but grew by +15% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. When put up against the same week in 2025 , Today was up +15% in total viewers and +7% in the demo.

CBS Mornings had 1.621 million total viewers and 255,000 viewers in the demo for the week of Aug. 3. Compared to the previous week, CBS News’ morning show saw gains of +3% in total viewers and +12% in the demo—the only morning show to see growth in both measured categories. Versus the same week in 2025, CBS Mornings saw declines of -9% in total viewers and -22% in the demo—the only newscast not to grow within this yearly comparison.

*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.

August 3, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):

Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings Current Week (w/o 8/3/26), Previous Week (w/o 7/27/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/4/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25–8/9/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24–8/10/25). Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season.

Mark Mwachiro is a TVNewser contributor who has been writing for the blog since March 2022. Based out of New York, Mark has also contributed to ADWEEK.

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Fox News remained the most-watched cable network in both measured categories

GMA saw gains in both measured categories

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