What To Know
- Norah O’Donnell’s return to CBS Mornings led to a slight increase in total viewers.
- NBC’s Today maintained its lead among morning shows with 2.834 million total viewers.
- ABC’s Good Morning America saw modest gains in both metrics compared to the previous week.
The morning news ratings are in for the week of September 7, and the big question is: Did Norah O’Donnell‘s return to CBS Mornings prove to be a success for the struggling show?
Well, the answer is… kind of. According to Adweek, citing Nielsen’s national live+same-day big data plus program ratings, CBS Mornings averaged 1.64 million total viewers and 247,000 viewers in the key Adults 25-54 demographic for the week of September 7.
The show was up 2 percent in total viewers compared to the previous week; however, it dropped 9 percent in the demo. CBS Mornings was also down compared to the same period in 2025, dropping 10 percent in total viewers and 21 percent in the key demo.
O’Donnell, who served as a senior correspondent and fill-in anchor at CBS News since 2024, returned to CBS Mornings on September 8 as the show’s new permanent cohost alongside Gayle King and Nate Burleson. She took the spot previously held by Tony Dokoupil, who was promoted to CBS Evening News back in January 2026.
Despite the uptick in total viewers, CBS Mornings still fell behind its competition. NBC’s Today took the No. 1 spot in both total viewers and the demo, averaging 2.834 million and 598,000, respectively, for the week of September 7.
Today, cohosted by Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, was down 1 percent in total viewers and down 5 percent in the demo compared to the week before. However, compared to the same week in 2025, the show was up 11 percent in total viewers and up 4 percent in the demo.
Meanwhile, ABC’s Good Morning America averaged 2.742 million total viewers and 488,000 demo viewers for the week of September 7. This was up 1 percent in total viewers and up 7 percent in the demo compared to the previous week.
Compared to last year, the show, cohosted by Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and Michael Strahan, was up 2% in total viewers and flat in the demo.
The weekly averages for the week of September 7 were based on three days (Tuesday to Thursday).
Good Morning America, Weekdays, 7am, ABC
Today, Weekdays, 7am, NBC
CBS Mornings, Weekdays, 7am, CBS