ABC's Good Morning America is poised to beat
NBC's Todayfor the second time inthree weeks,
leading by 166,000 total viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen fast
nationals for the week of April 23.
GMA
drew 5.3 million total viewers to Today's
5.13 million viewers. When GMA first
topped Today two weeks ago, breakingNBC's 16-year win streak,
it won by a margin of 31,000 total viewers.
Today
continues its streak with the key adults 25-54 demo but GMA is narrowing its lead, posting a margin of 94,000 viewers last
week (2.23 million viewers v. 2.14 million), its smallest gap since November
1995.
The two
shows split the week, with GMA
winning Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and Today
winning Monday and Friday. While GMA's
first weekly win came when Today
co-anchor Matt Lauer was on vacation, Lauer hosted every morning last week
except for Friday, when CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla filled in.
The seesawing
ratings race between the two morning shows has led to them upping the ante in
the booking wars. On Tuesday, GMA
will feature an interview with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg giving a first
look at a new tool for the site with "the power to save lives," while Today has the first interview with Bobby
Brown since Whitney Houston's death airing Wednesday and Thursday.
