The three major U.S. broadcast morning news programs—ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA), NBC’s TODAY, and CBS Mornings—continued their longstanding ratings battle during the week of May 11, 2026, with NBC’s TODAY maintaining its lead in total viewers while ABC’s GMA narrowed the gap and delivered strong entertainment-driven programming.
GMA and TODAY dominated the morning slot, routinely drawing millions more viewers than CBS Mornings, which trailed as a distant third. Recent available data from prior weeks showed TODAY averaging around 3 million total viewers and leading in the key adults 25-54 demographic, while GMA stayed competitive (often within 70,000–150,000 viewers) and showed year-over-year growth in several periods. CBS Mornings hovered near 1.7–1.8 million viewers.
Key Programming and Highlights: GMA leaned heavily into celebrity interviews, pop culture, and its ongoing “50 States in 50 Weeks: America the Beautiful” series (tied to the U.S. 250th anniversary). Notable segments included:
- Monday, May 11: Actor Pedro Pascal promoting Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Dancing with the Stars pro Mark Ballas, and a Josh Groban performance. Coverage also addressed a hantavirus-related story from a cruise ship evacuation.
- Tuesday, May 12: Sigourney Weaver, Alfonso Ribeiro, and motorcycle drag racer Dystany Spurlock.
- Mid-week: Chef Bobby Flay, Ty Pennington, American Idol winner performance, and Lisa Ann Walter.
- Friday, May 15: The “50 States” stop in Idaho and other lifestyle features.
CBS Mornings, anchored by figures like Gayle King and Nate Burleson, provided solid news coverage but struggled to close the substantial gap with its competitors, typically finishing well behind in both total viewers and the key demo.