Last week, something shocking happened in the morning news race.
Gayle King’s “CBS Mornings” came within 14,000 viewers of beating ABC’s “Good Morning America” in the key age demo of 25 to 49. In fact, one day, “CBS Mornings: actually did beat “GMA.”
It’s the closest CBS has come to ABC in the morning hours since 1991. CBS had 507K younger viewers vs. ABC’s 521K.
CBS has always had the third place morning news show lagging far behind “GMA” and NBC’s “Today.” But persistence has paid off. King has turned into a mega-star, and for once in CBS’s history they’ve stuck with a star and an approach.
Now it’s paying off. “CBS Mornings” last week also came within spitting distance of both rival shows in total viewers– five hundred-to-six hundred thousand.
“GMA” still narrowly leads “Today” in total viewers, but “Today” swamps “GMA” in younger viewers.
Adweek magazine notes that the King’s shows ratings were aided by the announcement of Golden Globe nominations and so on. But I do think that Gayle King’s consistent approach is winning CBS a growing, loyal audience. And “Mornings” is a serious stand out, while “Good Morning America” often feels like a game show.
