It’s been over two years now since ABC’s “Good Morning America” overtook NBC’s “Today” show, both in total viewers and, most weeks, in the “money” news demo of adults 25 to 54. (“Today” has topped “GMA” in that latter demo several times in the past 26 months.)
From that day in April 2012 when “GMA” claimed the top morning-show slot, rumors have swirled around longtime anchor Matt Lauer and his future with “Today” — rumors that were, at least for now, silenced when Lauer recently inked a new deal, believed to be for two years, to remain as co-anchor of “Today” alongside Savannah Guthrie.
In the 12 months from June 2013 through this month (June 8), “Today” has experienced a 9 percent uptick in total viewers, climbing from 4.7 million viewers last June to 5.2 million viewers this month.
“GMA,” meanwhile, is up 6 percent in total viewers in that same timeframe (5.5 million to 5.8 million).
And, yes, while “Today” did receive a boost in February from NBC’s Olympics coverage, it’s managed to build on that in the four months since.
In adults 25 to 54, “Today” is up 7 percent from last June — from 1.9 million viewers to 2.1 million — while “GMA” is up 11 percent to an average of nearly 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
The viewership gap between “GMA” and “Today” still looms large — “GMA” beat “Today” by nearly 1 million total viewers in the week ending June 6 — but NBC suits are obviously encouraged by what they’ve seen over the past year in “Today” and, by extension, in Lauer.
Just sayin’.
Speaking of numbers … TNT’s “Major Crimes” reeled in nearly 7 million viewers for its Season 3 opener, once Live +3 data was factored in (DVR viewing, etc.). That’s up 32 percent from the 5.2 million viewers who watched the season premiere on June 9. And Steven Bochco’s “Murder in the First” (Taye Diggs, Kathleen Robertson) grew to 5.2 million viewers with that extra Live +3 data tacked on. That’s a whopping 37 percent increase over its premiere.
Last, but not least …
Ch. 2 anchor Chris Wragge will be a guest co-host on Thursday’s “The Talk” (2 p.m./Ch. 2) … The Empire State TV Extravaganza to benefit NY Cares will be held June 24 at The Playroom Theater (West 46th) with headliners Constance Schulman (“Orange Is the New Black”) and Len Cariou (“Blue Bloods”) … Not only did Jamie deRoy win a Tony for producing “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” but her TV show, “Jamie deRoy & Friends,” won a 2014 TELLY Award … Bid to win lunch in LA (or a Skype session) with “Y&R’s” Melissa Claire Egan on charitybuzz.com.