CBS This Morning is Making Inroads in the Ratings
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When it comes to the morning shows, it has always been, NBC's Today Show, ABC's GMA and that's it.
But, CBS This Morning has quietly now become a player.
Marie Claire magazine seems to think that since they are the only morning show offering up straight news and not fluff that is why they are growing.
That is part of it, but the main reason that CBS is gaining viewers in the morning? They stuck with it this time. For years and years, CBS would blow up the morning show and start over. Each time they did it, it was like going back to zero and starting again.
This time, they stayed with the Anchor, Norah O'Donnell, Gayle King, Charlie Rose and the format and slowly the viewers have started to follow.
This should be a lesson to local TV stations that lag in the ratings and blow up their shows every couple of years.
The climb is a long one, but if you stay with it, you can get results.
Marie Claire writes that while Good Morning America and the Today show have been loudly battling it out for over 40 years, toppling each other over and over for the number-one spot, they've found themselves steadily losing viewers lately. CBS This Morning is now an official competitor, with a 46 percent rise in ratings since the show premiered in January 2012.
It's also the only morning show that's held on to women ages 25 to 54 (competitors lost female viewers in that demo year-over-year). They've done it by being newsier and more serious than the rest—and by letting two women lead the way.
"The main focus has been putting on a quality program that adheres to the highest levels of journalism," O'Donnell says. "Since we are the newsiest of the morning shows—we do more foreign stories, we have more scientists and business CEOs on our program—I think it's heartening that people are looking for quality journalism. They're looking for quality TV."
Many in TV could learn a lesson from CBS This Morning. It takes patience and that is something most TV bosses don't have.
