Week of April 21 Morning News Ratings: Pope Francis’ Passing Drives Viewers to the Morning Shows

.article-native-ad { border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; margin: 0 45px; padding-bottom: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } .article-native-ad svg { color: #ddd; font-size: 34px; margin-top: 10px; } .article-native-ad p { line-height:1.5; padding:0!important; padding-left: 10px!important; } .article-native-ad strong { font-weight:500; color:rgb(46,179,178); }

The passing of Pope Francis had viewers tuning into the morning shows during the week of April 21. ABC News’ Good Morning and NBC News’ Today avoided experiencing any viewership loss in total viewers or the Adults 25-54 demo

GMA remained the No. 1 show in total viewers, while Today continued to finish first in the demo. Meanwhile, CBS Mornings—which experienced a ratings boost courtesy of co-host Gayle King’s space odyssey aboard Blue Origin—saw its numbers float back to Earth in both measured categories.

CBS News’ morning show was the only program to register declines, with double-digit drops in total viewers and the demo. At the same time, the show’s numbers fell in line with what it typically averages.

According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, GMA averaged 2.659 million total viewers and 467,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo. Compared to the previous week, ABC News’ morning show was flat in total viewers, but up +4% in the demo. Looking at its performance alongside the same week in 2024 (the week of April 22), GMA was down -6% in both measured categories.

Today saw 2.561 million total viewers and 610,000 A25-54 viewers for week-to-week-gains of +3% and +6%, respectively. It was the only morning show with gains in both measured categories. Year-to-year, Today was down by -6% in total viewers and -7% in the demo.

CBS Mornings had 1.897 million total viewers and 314,000 A25-54 viewers for week-to-week losses of -23% and -22%, respectively. Year-to-year, the show was down -14% in total viewers and -30% in the demo.

	ABC	NBC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	2,659,000	2,561,000	1,897,000
• A25-54:	467,000	610,000	314,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live+SD Current Week (w/o 4/21/25), Previous Week (w/o 4/14/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/22/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24-4/27/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23-4/28/24). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.