Matt Lauer’s exit from the Today show has coincided with a ratings boost for the morning news program.
Numbers were up last week for Today, with the NBC News program surpassing ABC’s Good Morning America among total viewers—a metric that ABC typically wins. Today averaged 4.9 million viewers, up 14 percent from its average this season, and also climbed to 1.7 million in the 25-54 news demographic.
GMA was right behind with 4.4 million and 1.4 in the demo, and CBS This Morning came in third at 3.5 million and 900,000.
Lauer’s exit was announced early Wednesday which saw viewership for Today shoot up to 5.7 million, followed by elevated numbers on Thursday and Friday as well.
A boost isn’t exactly surprising given all the headlines about Lauer last week. It’s reasonable to assume there was some increased curiosity about how Lauer’s former colleagues might handle the various revelations. The real ratings impact of Lauer’s exit, if any, will be better gauged in the coming weeks.
No successor for Lauer’s position has yet been named, with NBC News currently filling the anchor’s role by rotating various current on-air talent into his seat.