CBS This Morning
CBS This Morning was an American weekday morning television news program that aired on the CBS network from January 9, 2012, to September 3, 2021, when it was rebranded as CBS Mornings.[1][2] The show broadcast live from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, emphasizing hard news coverage, in-depth interviews, and analysis in contrast to the lighter entertainment segments dominant on competitors like ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today.[1] Launched under the leadership of CBS News president Jeff Fager, the program debuted with co-anchors Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Erica Hill, aiming to revive CBS's morning franchise after years of third-place ratings.[1] Norah O'Donnell joined as co-anchor in 2012, replacing Hill, and the team conducted high-profile interviews with world leaders and experts. In 2017, however, the program faced a major crisis when co-anchor Charlie Rose was fired following allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by multiple women, including staffers, with reports indicating CBS executives had received prior warnings dating back to 1986.[3][4] This scandal prompted anchor shakeups, with John Dickerson briefly co-anchoring before being replaced by Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil in 2019.[5] Despite persistent challenges in overtaking rivals in viewership—often trailing with around 3 million daily viewers—the program garnered recognition for journalistic efforts, including a 2014 Peabody Award for a feature on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Daytime Emmy wins for directing and outstanding morning program.[6] The rebranding to CBS Mornings in 2021 introduced Nate Burleson as a co-host alongside King and Dokoupil, shifting toward a more integrated CBS News morning lineup amid evolving broadcast strategies.[2][7]History
Origins from The Early Show
CBS's The Early Show, which aired from November 1, 1999, to January 6, 2012, maintained a third-place position in morning news viewership throughout its run, trailing NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America by substantial margins. In its later seasons, including 2011, the program averaged roughly 2.5 million total daily viewers, compared to over 5 million for Today and around 4.5 million for Good Morning America, reflecting persistent struggles to capture a competitive audience amid rivals' emphasis on lighter, lifestyle-driven content.[8][9] Faced with these empirical ratings shortfalls and competitive pressures, CBS News leadership initiated a comprehensive revamp in 2011 to reposition the morning slot. Chairman Jeff Fager and president David Rhodes, seeking to prioritize substantive journalism over entertainment, directed the shift toward a harder news format designed to differentiate CBS from competitors' softer approaches, with the explicit goal of redefining morning television through deeper reporting and analysis.[10][11] On November 15, 2011, CBS formally announced the cancellation of The Early Show and outlined the overhaul, including a name change revived from a prior iteration and new on-air talent. The rebranded program, CBS This Morning, launched on January 9, 2012, initially anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Erica Hill, marking a strategic pivot driven by the predecessor's failure to improve standings despite prior tweaks.[11][12][13]Launch and Initial Format (2012–2015)
CBS This Morning premiered on January 9, 2012, supplanting The Early Show and introducing a format centered on rigorous news analysis, extended interviews, and minimal entertainment elements to appeal to viewers seeking substantive content. Anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King, and Erica Hill, the program broadcast live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ET weekdays.[1] This shift aimed to counter the dominance of NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America by prioritizing "essential conversations" over lifestyle segments, drawing on empirical viewer preferences for depth amid Nielsen data showing fatigue with lighter fare.[14] In its debut week, the show averaged 2.7 million total viewers daily, marking a 5% increase over The Early Show's prior performance and signaling initial traction through its news-focused approach, though it trailed competitors with Today at 5.54 million and Good Morning America at 4.86 million.[8][15] Rose's marquee interviews, such as with President Barack Obama, exemplified the format's emphasis on high-stakes discourse, contributing to audience retention by linking policy discussions to practical implications—termed "news you can use" in network strategy to boost engagement metrics.[16] Early challenges included sustaining momentum against entrenched rivals, prompting format adjustments informed by Nielsen ratings, such as integrating more actionable reporting on economic and health topics to address viewer drop-off in softer segments. By 2015, these refinements had stabilized viewership around 2.5-3 million, with the 1,000th episode highlighting sustained innovation in viewer-centric journalism.[17][16] Internal awareness of Rose's prior behavioral concerns, dating to the 1980s and flagged sporadically before 2012, loomed as a latent risk but did not disrupt the initial operational phase.[18]Major Anchors and Shifts (2016–2021)
In November 2017, CBS fired co-anchor Charlie Rose following allegations of sexual misconduct by multiple women, as detailed in a Washington Post report published on November 20.[3][19] The termination, effective November 21, stemmed from claims spanning 1990 to 2011 involving unwanted advances and exposure, prompting CBS News president David Rhodes to state the behavior violated workplace standards.[20] This abrupt exit disrupted the program's anchor trio of Rose, Norah O'Donnell, and Gayle King, which had driven viewership gains through in-depth interviews, leaving the show with temporary co-hosting by O'Donnell and King alongside correspondents.[21] To stabilize the lineup, CBS named John Dickerson, moderator of Face the Nation, as the new co-anchor on January 9, 2018, with him joining O'Donnell and King full-time starting January 10.[22][23] The transition emphasized continuity in the show's focus on substantive news over entertainment, but empirical data showed lasting damage from Rose's departure: pre-firing averages hovered around 3.5-3.8 million total viewers, yet post-ouster figures declined double-digits, stabilizing at approximately 2.7-3 million by late 2018 while trailing ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today by 1-1.5 million viewers daily.[24][25] This drop, down 16% year-over-year in key demographics like adults 25-54 since September 2018, reflected viewer attrition tied to the loss of Rose's interviewing gravitas and subsequent anchor instability, rather than broader market trends affecting rivals less severely. Further shifts occurred in May 2019, when CBS announced O'Donnell's move to anchor CBS Evening News and Dickerson's reassignment to 60 Minutes, leaving Gayle King as the sole holdover.[27] She was joined by veteran correspondent Anthony Mason and reporter Tony Dokoupil as co-anchors starting that fall, aiming to refresh the format with Mason's institutional knowledge and Dokoupil's investigative style.[28] These changes exacerbated ratings erosion, with viewership falling 21% to 2.704 million total viewers by June 2019 from 3.127 million pre-shift, underscoring causal links between frequent personnel turnover and audience retention challenges in a competitive morning slot.[29] By 2020, the King-Mason-Dokoupil team adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic through remote broadcasting from home studios, reducing on-site production to minimize health risks while maintaining core segments via virtual interviews and field reports.[28] This logistical pivot preserved operations amid lockdowns but coincided with volatile viewership, as the program's emphasis on empirical pandemic coverage—drawing on data-driven analysis—failed to fully offset prior declines, with averages lingering below 3 million and competitors benefiting from lighter formats.[27] The era's anchor flux thus contributed to programmatic instability, prioritizing internal restructuring over sustained competitive edge.Rebranding to CBS Mornings
On August 31, 2021, CBS announced the rebranding of CBS This Morning to CBS Mornings, effective September 7, 2021, as part of a broader refresh including a relocation to a new studio in Times Square and the addition of former NFL player and sports analyst Nate Burleson as a co-host alongside Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil.[7][30][2] The changes replaced Anthony Mason in the anchor role, with the network citing a desire to align the weekday program more closely with successful CBS morning formats like CBS Sunday Morning through enhanced storytelling and a unified branding strategy across its morning lineup.[31][32] The rebrand responded to the program's persistent third-place ranking in the morning news ratings, where it had averaged distant trailing figures behind ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today for much of its run, exacerbated by audience erosion following the 2017 dismissal of co-host Charlie Rose amid sexual misconduct allegations.[30] CBS executives emphasized expanding appeal to a wider demographic by incorporating Burleson's sports and entertainment perspective, shifting toward longer-form narrative segments over traditional hard-news delivery to foster "exquisite storytelling" and connection with viewers.[33][31] This adjustment aimed to counteract stagnation but reflected a strategic pivot away from the program's original emphasis on rigorous journalism toward a softer, more lifestyle-oriented format to compete in a market dominated by lighter competitors.[34] The debut week generated initial viewer interest, with the program drawing higher-than-average audiences amid promotion of the new studio and host lineup, though specific premiere metrics were not immediately detailed in network releases.[35] Subsequent performance showed short-term gains in certain demographics, such as increased female viewership, but overall ratings declined over time, maintaining third place and underscoring the challenges of the format softening in retaining core news audiences while failing to substantially erode rivals' leads.[36][37]Program Format
Core News and Interview Segments
CBS This Morning's weekday broadcasts from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. ET centered on core news and interview segments designed to deliver substantive journalism, opening with the "Eye Opener" sequence summarizing major headlines and developments.[38] This was succeeded by extended reporting on key national and international stories, including policy examinations grounded in verifiable data and expert input rather than speculative commentary. The format emphasized causal analysis of events, such as breakdowns of economic indicators or geopolitical conflicts, drawing from correspondent fieldwork and official records to prioritize empirical evidence over narrative-driven accounts.[39] In-depth interviews constituted a primary differentiator, featuring extended discussions with policymakers, scientists, and industry leaders to probe underlying mechanisms and evidence-based solutions. Notable examples included sessions with political figures like President Barack Obama, where anchors elicited detailed rationales for administration decisions, and foreign dignitaries providing firsthand accounts of international crises. These segments avoided superficial exchanges, instead fostering interrogations of assumptions through direct questioning of premises and outcomes. Investigative reporting integrated into the lineup highlighted original probes, such as examinations of government operations or corporate practices, often incorporating leaked documents, whistleblower testimonies, and statistical validations to substantiate claims.[40] Launched in January 2012 with a commitment to "news, not noise," the program initially allocated over 70% of airtime to hard news and analytical interviews, contrasting with rivals' heavier reliance on celebrity-driven content. By the late 2010s, amid persistent third-place ratings averaging approximately 2.5 million viewers daily—compared to 4-5 million for competitors—producers introduced supplementary lifestyle-oriented features, like health policy overviews framed through personal impacts, to potentially expand audience reach. This adjustment correlated with modest viewership upticks in select quarters but did not alter the core emphasis on fact-verified reporting, as evidenced by sustained inclusion of foreign affairs deep dives and accountability journalism.[41]Weather, Local Cut-Ins, and Special Features
The weather component of CBS This Morning integrated national forecasts from CBS News meteorologists, who provided updates on conditions such as tropical storms and hurricanes, exemplified by Rob Marciano's reports on systems like Humberto in September 2025, though delivered in the context of the program's earlier format emphasizing concise, data-driven overviews rather than extended presentations.[42] Unlike competitors with dedicated on-set weather anchors, the show relied on network specialists for overarching U.S. trends, prioritizing brevity to align with its news-focused runtime. Local affiliates handled regional customization through scheduled cut-ins, where stations like Chicago's WBBM inserted tailored forecasts using the program's branding, enabling affiliates to address market-specific risks such as severe weather or air quality without preempting the national feed.[43] This hybrid approach supported retention in interior markets, where empirical viewership data from similar morning formats indicate local relevance correlates with sustained household engagement over generic national summaries.[44] Special features augmented core content with practical, viewer-oriented segments on health and consumer issues, including exposés on medical billing inaccuracies and opioid risks, as seen in collaborations with Consumer Reports on painkiller investigations in 2014 and CBS-driven relief for outlier hospital charges.[45][46] These reports emphasized verifiable discrepancies, such as HealthCare.gov premium misestimations leading to doubled costs for some users in 2013, drawing from direct consumer data rather than unsubstantiated advocacy.[47] Such inclusions fostered causal links to loyalty in non-coastal demographics by delivering actionable insights—e.g., privacy risks in health data marketing—amid broader news cycles, with affiliate cut-ins occasionally extending these to local alerts on recalls or outbreaks.[48] Broadcast logistics for weather and features accounted for time-zone variances, with the Eastern live feed delayed for Central and Western audiences, incorporating 5-15 minute refreshers on forecasts to mitigate staleness in Pacific Time slots airing from 4:00 a.m. PT.[49] During major events, network protocols shifted to centralized coverage, reducing affiliate cut-ins to preserve continuity, as evidenced by CBS's handling of national storms where local stations deferred to unified reporting.[50] This structure minimized disruptions while maximizing empirical utility, aligning with affiliate compensation models that incentivized cooperative inserts over full preemptions.[51]Production Logistics and Studio Evolution
CBS This Morning launched its production on January 9, 2012, from Studio 57 at the CBS Broadcast Center, located at 524 West 57th Street in New York City, utilizing the facility's advanced control rooms and video infrastructure for live news delivery.[52] This setup supported a primarily live broadcast model, with anchors delivering segments in real-time while integrating pre-recorded field reports and interviews to allow for editing and verification without compromising urgency. The production team, led by an executive producer and including directors, technical operators, and logistics coordinators, managed daily scripting, satellite feeds from global correspondents, and on-site rehearsals to ensure seamless transitions between studio elements and remote inputs.[53] In response to the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March 2020, production adapted by incorporating remote anchor appearances via video links, reducing in-studio personnel to essential staff, and enforcing protocols like masking, testing, and physical distancing to sustain live airing amid health risks and supply disruptions for equipment.[54] These measures prioritized operational continuity and employee safety, drawing on broader industry shifts toward hybrid workflows that minimized physical gatherings while maintaining broadcast quality through enhanced virtual production tools.[55] By September 2021, ahead of the program's rebranding, production shifted to a newly constructed studio at 1515 Broadway in Times Square, which featured expanded LED walls and immersive set designs intended to enhance visual appeal and accommodate format tweaks.[56] This relocation, involving significant upfront costs estimated in the millions for build-out, reflected an empirical push for modernized facilities to boost viewer engagement, though subsequent evaluations under Paramount Global's fiscal pressures highlighted inefficiencies in maintaining the high-rent space.[57] The studio evolution's endpoint for the CBS This Morning legacy came with the successor program's return to a renovated Studio 57 on September 29, 2025, incorporating upgraded lighting, acoustics, and automation systems to cut operational expenses and streamline workflows compared to the Times Square venue.[58] This reversion underscored causal priorities of cost control and logistical efficiency, reverting to the Broadcast Center's centralized resources for integrated news production across CBS properties.[59]On-Air Personnel
Anchor Teams
CBS This Morning debuted on January 9, 2012, with Charlie Rose and Gayle King as its primary co-anchors, emphasizing long-form interviews and serious journalism that distinguished the program from competitors. Norah O'Donnell served initially as a news anchor before transitioning to co-anchor status alongside Rose and King. This lineup contributed to a 37 percent rise in total viewership compared to the preceding CBS morning program, averaging higher engagement through substantive discussions that enhanced the show's prestige and attracted an audience seeking depth over entertainment.[60] Rose's tenure concluded in November 2017, prompting a reconfiguration of the anchor team. John Dickerson joined Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell as co-anchor in January 2018, maintaining the program's commitment to rigorous reporting and collaborative on-air dynamics. However, this period correlated with viewership declines, including a 14 percent drop in adults 25-54 and 9 percent in total viewers over the subsequent 12 months relative to pre-departure averages, reflecting challenges in sustaining momentum amid anchor transitions.[22][25] By May 2019, Norah O'Donnell departed for the CBS Evening News anchor position, and John Dickerson shifted to other network roles, leading to the addition of Tony Dokoupil as a co-anchor with Gayle King. This adjustment aimed to refresh the team's chemistry and adapt to evolving audience preferences, though it preceded further ratings softness, with total viewership falling 21 percent in the weeks following the changes as the program approached its rebranding. The evolving anchor configurations underscored a pattern where shifts away from the original Rose-led team linked to measurable dips in key metrics, highlighting the influence of anchor familiarity on viewer retention.[61][29]Correspondents and Regular Contributors
Major Garrett, CBS News' chief Washington correspondent since 2012, regularly contributed political analysis and field reports from Capitol Hill and the White House, focusing on legislative processes and executive actions with direct sourcing from policymakers.[62] Elaine Quijano served as a multifaceted correspondent, delivering feature segments on social issues and human stories that complemented the program's news depth, with her work integrated into daily broadcasts from 2012 onward.[63] In response to competitive pressures for enhanced original content, CBS This Morning in May 2019 designated a core team of dedicated correspondents—David Begnaud as lead, alongside Jericka Duncan, Anna Werner, and Vladimir Duthiers—to produce exclusive field investigations and reports, emphasizing verifiable on-site journalism over studio commentary.[64] David Begnaud's contributions included nationwide field pieces on community-driven initiatives and individual achievements, such as profiles of adversity overcome through local efforts, which aired as regular segments to illustrate causal links between policy impacts and personal outcomes.[65] Anna Werner, the senior consumer investigative correspondent, bolstered the show's credibility through data-driven exposés on corporate practices, including reports that prompted the largest U.S. tire recall in history (affecting over 40 million tires in 2019) and the shutdown of a flawed organ transplant program, relying on empirical evidence from regulatory filings and victim testimonies.[66] These roles experienced turnover linked to CBS News' structural shifts, such as the 2021 rebranding to CBS Mornings and expansions into digital platforms, which reassigned personnel like Werner to broader investigative duties by mid-2025 while maintaining continuity in specialized reporting.Weekend and Extended Editions
Saturday Edition
CBS Saturday Morning premiered on November 24, 2012, as the weekend edition of CBS This Morning, initially airing for two hours on Saturday mornings and featuring a mix of original news segments, interviews, and features distinct from the weekday broadcast's pace.[67] The program launched with co-hosts including Michelle Miller and evolved to include Jeff Glor starting June 22, 2019, alongside Dana Jacobson, emphasizing in-depth reporting on culture, arts, and current events tailored for weekend viewers.[68][69] In alignment with the weekday program's rebranding, CBS Saturday Morning debuted its updated name and format enhancements on September 18, 2021, maintaining a two-hour structure with original content while incorporating some extended stories from the week for a more relaxed, narrative-driven presentation.[70] This shift aimed to unify CBS News' morning lineup under a consistent brand identity, though the Saturday edition retained its independent evolution, focusing on profiles and analysis over breaking news urgency.[30] Viewership for CBS Saturday Morning averaged 1.761 million total viewers during the 2022-2023 broadcast year, with 315,000 in the adults 25-54 demographic, reflecting a stable but lower niche audience compared to weekday counterparts and appealing to loyal weekend news consumers seeking unhurried coverage.[71] The program's metrics underscore its role as a supplementary offering, prioritizing depth over volume to engage viewers less inclined to weekday schedules.[72]Sunday and Special Weekend Programming
CBS This Morning did not produce regular Sunday editions, as CBS allocated its Sunday morning schedule to established programs like the news magazine CBS Sunday Morning, hosted by Jane Pauley and airing at 9:00 a.m. ET, which emphasizes feature stories on arts, music, nature, entertainment, and profiles rather than the weekday format's focus on breaking news and interviews.[73] [74] This program, recognized as the top-rated Sunday morning news offering, attracted audiences preferring its slower-paced, cultural content over hard news, with viewership often exceeding weekday morning benchmarks in its niche—such as 4.71 million viewers on select high-engagement Sundays.[75] [76] The absence of a Sunday counterpart to CBS This Morning stemmed from empirical viewership disparities, where weekday morning slots commanded consistent daily audiences of approximately 1.9 million for CBS's format, driven by commuter and routine habits, compared to fragmented weekend patterns favoring specialized content.[41] Limited investment in Sunday hard news extensions was thus prioritized toward sustaining Face the Nation for political discourse and CBS Sunday Morning for broader appeal, avoiding dilution of resources on lower-yield replications. Special weekend broadcasts tied to the This Morning team were infrequent, confined to rare event tie-ins like holiday overviews or national crises, often folded into network-wide CBS News coverage without dedicated Sunday pilots.[74] Following the 2021 rebrand to CBS Mornings, this structure persisted, integrating weekend efforts primarily through Saturday editions while preserving Sunday's distinct programming to align with proven audience causal drivers, such as post-weekend leisure viewing preferences that boosted magazine formats over news-heavy ones.[77] No expansion to Sunday weekday-style shows occurred, underscoring a franchise strategy grounded in format differentiation and viewership data rather than uniform extension.[41]Broadcast and Distribution
Network Affiliates and Syndication
CBS This Morning aired on the 15 CBS owned-and-operated stations and approximately 228 affiliated stations, reaching nearly all designated market areas in the United States through standard network affiliation agreements.[78] These agreements typically required affiliates to carry network news programming, though morning shows like CBS This Morning faced less stringent clearance mandates compared to evening news or prime-time content.[79] The program broadcast live from New York City from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time weekdays, with satellite feeds distributed to affiliates nationwide; stations in Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones aired it live at correspondingly earlier local times, such as 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Pacific, without delay to preserve timeliness against competitors like NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America.[80] Affiliates often integrated local cut-ins for weather or traffic during the second hour, coordinated via network feeds to align with promotional tie-ins and regional advertising slots.[81] Early in its run, particularly during the 1987–1999 and initial 2012 iterations, CBS This Morning experienced preemptions by select affiliates replacing it with local newscasts, infomercials, or religious programming, as seen with stations like KPIX in San Francisco in 1994 and others amid network-affiliate tensions over ratings and compensation.[82][83] By the mid-2010s, competitive dynamics and improved viewer metrics reduced such preemptions, with CBS negotiating incentives for full carriage to match rivals' near-universal clearance and bolster national reach.[84] The program was not offered in traditional off-network syndication domestically, remaining exclusive to CBS network distribution.Digital and Streaming Availability
CBS This Morning offered digital access via clips and select full episodes on CBS.com and affiliated YouTube channels starting from its premiere on January 9, 2012, enabling viewers to access segments on-demand without traditional broadcast requirements.[77][85] Live streaming of the program expanded with the launch of CBSN on November 6, 2018, CBS's free digital streaming service, which aired CBS This Morning at 8 a.m. ET on weekdays, complementing linear TV distribution.[86] In select markets, subscribers to CBS All Access—introduced in October 2014—could access live feeds of local CBS affiliates carrying the show, providing an early subscription-based option for cord-cutters.[86] The CBS News mobile app, available since the early 2010s and updated for broader live and on-demand capabilities, further supported streaming of episodes and highlights, with free access to 24/7 news feeds incorporating This Morning content by the late 2010s.[87] Post-2020, amid rising digital news consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News reported overall digital platforms averaging 17.6 billion monthly viewing minutes across network and streaming in 2021, though program-specific migration metrics for This Morning remain undisclosed in public filings.[88] As CBS All Access transitioned toward rebranding in 2021, on-demand enhancements included expanded clip libraries and integrated access via smart TV apps, facilitating easier archival viewing of This Morning segments before the program's reformat to CBS Mornings.[89]Ratings Performance
Historical Viewership Trends
Upon its debut on January 9, 2012, CBS This Morning averaged 2.7 million total viewers during the premiere week, according to Nielsen measurements.[8][15] The program saw initial growth, achieving an average of 3.3 million viewers by 2015, which represented a 5% increase from the previous year.[90] Viewership fluctuated in subsequent years amid personnel changes, including the November 2017 departure of co-anchor Charlie Rose following sexual misconduct allegations, after which the show posted declines in subsequent periods.[25] In May 2019, following the addition of new co-hosts Tony Dokoupil and Michelle Miller to pair with Gayle King, weekly averages dropped 21% year-over-year to approximately 2.5 million viewers.[29] The program maintained averages in the 2 to 2.5 million range through the late 2010s and into 2020, with temporary surges tied to major events such as election coverage. It was rebranded as CBS Mornings on September 7, 2021, coinciding with format adjustments but no immediate reversal in trajectory.[34] By the 2024-2025 television season, CBS Mornings averaged 1.94 million total viewers, reflecting a 10% year-over-year decline.[41] Through August 12, 2025, year-to-date figures stood at 1.813 million daily viewers, down 10% from the comparable 2024 period.[91] In the third quarter of 2025, averages further slipped to 1.789 million, a 7% decrease from the prior year.[92] These consistent year-over-year reductions underscore a downward trend since the early post-launch peak.Competitive Analysis Against Rivals
CBS Mornings has maintained a third-place position in total viewership among the major network morning shows, trailing ABC's Good Morning America (GMA), which averaged 2.644 million viewers, and NBC's Today, which averaged 2.604 million viewers, during the 2024-2025 television season through early September.[92][93] In contrast, CBS Mornings averaged 1.940 million total viewers for the same period, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 10%.[94] The competitive gap in average daily audiences widened following 2017, when CBS This Morning's viewership stood at approximately 3.57 million total viewers in late December, compared to higher figures for rivals that season.[95] By the 2024-2025 season, the disparity grew to over 0.6 million viewers separating CBS from Today and more than 0.7 million from GMA, as CBS experienced steeper declines post-scandals affecting its anchor team.[25] In the period following the November 2024 presidential election, encompassed within the 2024-2025 season data, CBS Mornings saw an 11% year-over-year drop in total viewers to around 1.8 million by mid-2025, while GMA and Today exhibited relative stability with declines of 6% or less and occasional weekly gains.[41][93] This divergence aligns with structural differences in programming, where Today and GMA integrate extended entertainment and lifestyle segments that sustain higher retention rates among broader audiences during transitional hours, unlike CBS's emphasis on extended hard news blocks.[96]| Season/Period | GMA (millions) | Today (millions) | CBS Mornings (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late 2017 | ~4.5+ (est.) | ~4.8+ (est.) | 3.57 |
| 2024-2025 (early) | 2.644 | 2.604 | 1.940 |