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

March 15, 2005

As audience grows on morning shows, so does their role in the finances of network news.

The latest TNS data suggest ad revenue at all three morning shows is on the rise. NBC's Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America dominate and with a much smaller gap than they have in ratings.

CBS's Early Show is a distant third here, but growing.

In 2003, the latest full-year data available, the Today Show took in $470 million for its three-hour program (versus two-hour programs at the other networks), up some 11% over the year before. ABC's Good Morning America took in $465.6 million, up 11%. CBS's Early Show took in $218.3 million, up 5%.

Partial data through August 2004 show those numbers continuing to build, unlike the ones for evening news. The Today Show had taken in $367.7 million, on pace for $551.6 million. Good Morning America had taken in $349.8 million, on pace for $524.7 million. And the Early Show had taken in $161.7 million, on pace for $242.6 million. Those would all be healthy increases from the year before.

The networks have been ever more creative about packing the shows with revenue opportunities, using sponsored segments, more ads in each half hour, and more.

To get a sense of perspective on how the morning shows have been turned into economic engines, between 1999 and 2003, the Today Show has improved advertising revenue, according to TNS, by 45%.

ABC's Good Morning America, despite a slight downturn in 2001, has seen ad revenues between 1999 and 2003 grow by more than 50%. For the same period, CBS, on a smaller base, has seen its ad revenue grow since 1999 by some 64%.

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

The tone of the morning programs is also important. Morning shows have a greater flexibility in where and when advertising spots can take place. Because they are a blend of news and entertainment, a sponsor can, in essence, purchase a portion of the actual program - think of Smucker's sponsorship of The Today Show's long-running birthday greetings or, more recently, The CBS Early Show's partnership with Williams-Sonoma on a series of Thanksgiving spots, and the program's being featured in the houseware company's catalog and on its Web site. Those are obviously not the kinds of maneuvers we're likely to see on the evening newscast anytime soon. We provided a fuller explanation of this revenue flexibility in last year's report (see the Morning Show Economics section in the 2004 Network TV Economics report).