top line
Network morning, evening news and late-night shows have seen their viewership drop by nearly half over the past decade as streaming and social media platforms have changed the media landscape. Some reports, such as The Hollywood Reporter, claim that monoculture is officially over.
Television ratings have plummeted due to the proliferation of social media and streaming platforms.
getty
important facts
The three major network morning shows — NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “CBS Morning” — have collectively lost about half of their viewers over the past 12 years.
“Good morning America” Still the most popular of the Big 3, with an average of 2.6 million viewers in the 2024-2025 TV season, a decline 46% From 4.9 million people in 2015-2016.
“today” Saw 45% Decrease in viewership over the same period (from 4.71 million to 2.6 million) “CBS Morning” dropped 47% The number of viewers increased from 3.67 million to 1.94 million.
NBC is losing the most late-night viewers in the past decade. From 2015 to 2016 season, Jimmy Fallon average “Tonight Show” Viewership has decreased 64% The number of viewers will increase from 3.6 million to 1.3 million in 2025.
ABC’s long-running show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” I got lost 13% Viewership over the past 10 years (from 2.3 million to 2 million in 2025) and CBS “Late Show” The show, which was taken over by Stephen Colbert in 2015, drew between 2.75 million and 2.5 million viewers (or 9%) 2025.
The network’s nightly newscasts have fared slightly better than its morning and late-night shows, but CBSEvening News” and NBC’s “Nightly News” continues to see a dramatic decline in viewer ratings. 41% and 30%respectively from 2015.
Average viewership of network morning shows from 2015 to 2025.
nielsen data
Average viewership of network nightly newscasts from 2015 to 2025.
nielsen data
Average audience for network late-night programming from 2015 to 2025.
nielsen data
news peg
The Hollywood Reporter recently named 2014 the year that monoculture, the era in which ordinary people had a more shared cultural diet, ended. The magazine cited the 2014 Oscars ceremony (when host Ellen DeGeneres shared a selfie with more than a dozen A-listers, including Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep) as the last truly shared pop culture experience before the audience was irreparably destroyed. Today, linear viewership (watching a set program at a specific time) has plummeted, and viewers are spread across TV, streaming services, and social media.
big number
24. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is the number of network and cable shows that drew more than 12 million regular viewers in a seven-day period in 2014. Currently, there are three: “Marshall” (CBS), “Tracker” (CBS), and “High Potential” (ABC).
David Muir continues to protect ABC News viewers
David Muir, anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight.”
ABC (via Getty Images)
ABC World News Tonight, hosted by David Muir since 2014, has been successful in retaining a large audience over the same period. “World News Tonight” averaged 7.6 million total viewers for the 2024-25 season, down just 9% from 8.3 million in 2015-16 and roughly on par with the 7.7 million viewers it averaged during the 2012-2013 season, hosted by Diane Sawyer. According to a poll conducted last year, Muir claimed the title of most trusted nightly news host in 2025, coming in second most trusted of more than 80 TV news personalities questioned in the poll (behind NBC’s “Today” show star Al Roker).
Read more
#Network #TVs #Cultural #Domination #Stark #Charts