Morning News Economics | Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ)

March 13, 2006

Even with a decline in viewership, and audiences that are notably smaller than their evening news counterparts, the morning programs continue to be the economic powerhouses of the news divisions. The reason is fairly simple. They are on for two hours (three hours in the case of NBC’s “Today Show”), versus 30 minutes for nightly news.

The morning programs also feed important revenues to the networks’ owned stations and other affiliates, compounding their economic importance to their companies.

In calendar year 2004, according to data provided to the Project by TNS, “Today” and “Good Morning America” continued the horserace that has been going since we began collecting data in 1999. CBS remains a distant third in advertising revenue but, like NBC and ABC, continued its climb.

In 2004 (January to December), “Today” took in $552 million in advertising revenue, up 17% from 2003. The shorter “Good Morning America” took in $528 million, up 13%. CBS’s “Early Show” brought its advertising revenue up 14% to $249 million. It is important, however, to keep these figures in perspective. “Today” airs for three hours each weekday, while GMA and the “Early Show” air for two. If those advertising revenue figures are compared by the hour, the two-hour “Good Morning America” actually earns more per hour than “Today.” In fact, calculations using data from TNS indicate that in value per hour, “Good Morning America’s” revenues may actually exceed those of “Today” by more than 40%.3

Partial data through August 2005 suggested that by year-end, GMA might overtake or at least equal “Today” in absolute advertising revenue. As of August, “Today” had taken in some $380 million, slightly below “Good Morning America” with $381 million. That projected to $571 million in advertising revenue for both programs by the end of calendar year 2005, more than three times the totals generated by their networks’ shorter, yet more highly rated evening newscasts. CBS’s “Early Show” had advertising revenue of $181 million through August, which would project to $272 million by the end of 2005.

(Again, however, the networks internally have different numbers than TNS, and insiders say that NBC’s accounting shows “Today” ahead of GMA. All we can safely rely on are the numbers that are public.)

Looking back, the three networks have all come to expect large yearly revenue increases in their morning programs. According to TNS, between 1999 and 2004, each of the morning news programs improved advertising revenues by well over 50%. Indeed, with a 64% increase over that time, ABC’s “Good Morning America” was the only one of the top three programs not to improve by more than 75%. “Today” climbed 78% while the “Early Show” (while operating from a much lower baseline) improved 87%.

The length of the morning shows is the most obvious factor in their ability to generate higher revenue than their evening news counterparts, with roughly half the viewership. Data from Andrew Tyndall reveal that in 2004, the morning shows averaged about four times as much time for commercials and network promos on weekdays. (Since they are four times the length (not counting the third hour of Today) that means the ratio of editorial to advertising is similar.) 1

In 2005, Tyndall tracked commercial time on the three morning shows over the course of one month. According to the data, commercial time increased slightly between the first and second hours of “Good Morning America,” from 17.2 minutes to 17.6 minutes. It similarly increased on the “Today Show,” from 16.6 minutes in the first hour to 16.8 minutes in the second. Commercial time between the first and second hours on the “Early Show” dropped from 17.6 to 17.2 minutes. Commercials make up just over 25% of the time of each morning program.