NBC’s “Today” closed out 2025 on top of the competitive morning-show marketplace, finishing both the week of Dec. 29 and the fourth quarter as the No. 1 broadcast in total viewers and among adults 25-54, the demo that drives most national advertising investment. For out-of-home buyers, the numbers underscore a resilient, high-value daypart as viewers moved through the holiday transition into the new year.
According to Nielsen’s national live-plus-same-day big data plus program ratings, “Today” averaged 2.836 million total viewers and 561,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Dec. 29, leading ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CBS’s “CBS Mornings” in both metrics. Week to week, the NBC franchise ticked down 1% in total audience and 6% in the core demo, reflecting typical holiday-week softness but still outperforming the field. Versus the same week a year earlier, “Today” grew a substantial 12% in total viewers, even as its A25-54 delivery slipped 4%, an increasingly familiar pattern as linear viewership ages.
“Good Morning America” remained a formidable second-place player, and for advertisers focused on efficiency, it delivered some of the most encouraging week-to-week momentum. The ABC show averaged 2.688 million total viewers and 467,000 adults 25-54 for the week, narrowing the gap with “Today” while standing out as the only broadcast to post gains in either measured category. Compared with the prior week, GMA was essentially flat in total viewers (down 1%) but rose 6% in the A25-54 demo, signaling improved engagement among younger and middle-aged adults during a week when many viewers were out of their normal routines. On a year-over-year basis, GMA was up 6% in total viewers and 9% in adults 25-54, an attractive trend line for marketers targeting consistent reach in a fragmenting landscape.
CBS’s “CBS Mornings” continued to play the challenger role, with 1.661 million total viewers and 231,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Dec. 29. The program declined 6% in total audience and 17% in the demo versus the previous week, and was down 9% in total viewers and 30% in A25-54 versus the year-ago frame. While still a distant third, the broadcast maintains a meaningful, upscale audience base; for OOH and cross-platform buys, it can function as an efficient complement to the larger NBC and ABC footprints.
If the transitional week provided a snapshot, the just-completed fourth quarter of 2025 delivered the broader story: “Today” reasserted itself as the leading morning franchise. The show finished Q4 at No. 1 in both total viewers and adults 25-54, averaging 2.867 million viewers and 601,000 in A25-54. Those figures translate into double-digit growth versus the third quarter, up 17% in total viewers and 11% in the demo, underscoring the strength of the brand heading into 2026. For media planners, that kind of quarter-to-quarter acceleration suggests a dependable platform for sustained OOH and linear branding, especially around major news cycles and tentpole integrations.
“Good Morning America” also turned in a strong quarter, tightening the race while still trailing NBC overall. GMA averaged 2.78 million total viewers and 480,000 adults 25-54 in Q4. Compared with Q3, the ABC broadcast grew 7% in total viewers and 4% in the demo, signaling healthy audience momentum even as it ceded the top slot to “Today.” For advertisers, that makes GMA an attractive co-anchor in any morning strategy: slightly smaller but still large-scale reach, with steady demo performance and a reputation for advertiser-friendly lifestyle and entertainment segments that can translate effectively to OOH creative extensions.
CBS’s “CBS Mornings” again ranked third for the quarter but showed a more nuanced picture than its weekly snapshot might suggest. The show averaged 1.914 million total viewers and 298,000 adults 25-54 in Q4 2025. Quarter to quarter, the program was up 7% in total viewers but down 1% in the demo, implying that its growth came largely from older viewers. For brands whose targets skew slightly older or more affluent—and for OOH campaigns placed in business districts and commuter corridors—the CBS audience still offers meaningful value, even if the headline ratings trail its rivals.
For the OOH sector, the broader takeaway from both the week of Dec. 29 and Q4 2025 is that broadcast morning remains one of the last true mass-reach environments in linear television, with clear brand hierarchies and consistent performance. “Today” delivers the largest scale and the most robust A25-54 concentration, making it a logical anchor for integrated campaigns that marry in-show integrations with digital place-based video across transit, office, and retail networks. GMA’s demo growth and content mix continue to make it a prime vehicle for lifestyle, entertainment, and retail categories looking to extend the on-screen experience into high-traffic urban and suburban OOH. And CBS Mornings, while smaller, supplies incremental reach with a distinct editorial voice that can resonate with news-focused, on-the-go audiences.
In an era where streaming continues to siphon off prime-time viewing, the resilience of these morning blocks—especially the renewed dominance of “Today” across both the final week of the year and the fourth quarter—offers a clear signal to advertisers: if you want reliable, repeatable exposure to working-age adults as they start their day, morning broadcast news remains a foundation to build on, and an efficient engine for amplifying OOH storytelling at scale.