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MediaBuyerPlanner: The early morning news battle saw NBC's Today getting a nice ratings surge when Meredith Vieira took over for Katie Couric last summer. But that surge is becoming a slump, and ABC's Good Morning America is gaining.
The narrowing of the gap between top news shows is in part due to gains made by ABC and in part thanks to losses by NBC, according to Media Life. In the adults 25-54 demo during the first quarter, GMA trailed Today by 550,000 viewers, compared to the 640,000 viewers in the same period in 2006. Today now averages just under 2.8 million viewers, while GMA averages 2.2 million and CBS's Early Show averages 1.2 million.
GMA's gains are being driven by tweaks made to the show, which include adding a second female host - Robin Roberts - and putting reporters out in the field more often.
Today's Meredith Vieira is a powerful force, and it may be difficult for GMA to close the gap further. Last week, when Vieira went on vacation, GMA narrowed the 25-54 gap to only 380,000. But Carat's Shari Anne Brill, vp and director of programming, says that the morning news race is getting competitive again.
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