CBS has never really been a player when it comes to the morning shows rating race, except on Sunday.

CBS News Sunday Morning is beating both Good Morning America and the Today Show.

And while both GMA and Today have made a number of changes over the years, Sunday morning is basically the same show it was when it started back in the late 70's.

Its theme music is the same. Its logo, a stylish sun with a face, hasn’t changed much, and its host has only changed once: Charles Osgood took over when Charles Kuralt stepped down in 1994.

At least on the surface, the program is almost a time capsule from the kinder, gentler days before we became shackled to the 24-hour news cycle and 1,000 channels.

“Apples to oranges,” says a “Today” show exec, brushing off any comparison between the embattled NBC program and “Sunday Morning.”

Yep.

The Emmy-nominated “Sunday Morning” offers an eclectic mix of interesting, magazine-style news stories that are anything but fluff.

No boy-band concerts, studio-bound celebrity cooking segments or sugary Kardashian stuff.

Last week, the show had a forward-looking theme that included Rita Braver’s interview with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, a report from former “Daily Show” guy Mo Rocca on the accuracy of futurists’ forecasts, Tracy Smith’s interview with actor Jeremy Irons about his quest to find solutions for trash disposal, former MTV newsbabe Serena Altschul’s report on the new wave of 3D printing, and a report by Barry Petersen about the search for new planets and extraterrestrial life.

Smart stuff, right?

The bumpers, the short moments between the program and the commercials, feature gentle forest sounds, like crickets, birds and babbling brooks.

It’s peaceful and perfect for that time of day at that time of the week.

“They really have nailed the feeling of a Sunday morning,” a competitor — a veteran of the morning-show wars — grudingly admits.

The vet quickly adds, “If only they could do it all week long, they might have something there.”

A cheap shot, though understandable.

In terms of ratings and buzz on every other day of the week, month and year, the other guys destroy CBS in the mornings.

But not on Sundays.

H/T NY Daily News