George Stephanopoulos’ This Week Tops Sunday Public Affairs for Fourth Straight Telecast with 3.066 Million Viewers
On March 1, 2026, 'This Week with george stephanopoulos' drew 3. 066 million total viewers and 457, 000 adults 25–54, securing the top position among Sunday public affairs programs for the fourth straight telecast. The milestone matters because it highlights a rare sustained audience advantage in both total viewers and the key adults 25–54 demographic.
George Stephanopoulos March 1 Telecast
The March 1 telecast was No. 1 in Total Viewers (3. 066 million) and Adults 25–54 (457, 000), measured by Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research and NTI. That episode marked a continuation of a multi-week run: the program was the most-watched Sunday public affairs broadcast for the fourth consecutive telecast. Earlier in the season, the show also posted a No. 1 finish on Feb. 15, 2026, when it drew 3. 016 million total viewers and 412, 000 adults 25–54.
Personnel on the program listed for these telecasts include George Stephanopoulos as anchor, Martha Raddatz as chief global affairs correspondent and co-anchor, and Jonathan Karl as chief Washington correspondent and co-anchor. The Feb. 15 telecast outperformed CBS’ Face the Nation by 640, 000 total viewers, a gap characterized as the program’s largest overall viewer lead in more than 1. 5 years.
Nielsen Media Research and Season-to-Date Trends
Season-to-date metrics for the 2025–2026 period (spanning Sept. 22, 2025, through March 1, 2026, in the most current data stream) show 'This Week' as the leading Sunday public affairs program in total viewers, delivering the largest lead over NBC in 29 years. The season averages are calculated using the Big Data Plus Panel ratings framework that began in the 2023–2024 season, and Live+Same Day (Live+SD) measurements were applied to individual telecasts cited.
Several changes to measurement and distribution are noted in the season accounting. Beginning Sept. 29, 2025, averages began to include additional airings on ABCNL, including distributors such as YouTube and Roku; national ratings have included Out of Home viewing since Aug. 31, 2020. Those methodological expansions broaden the pool of measurable viewership and are reflected in season averages.
On Feb. 15, 2026, NBC’s Meet the Press was preempted for coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, removing that program from the competitive lineup that Sunday. For the Feb. 15 telecast, the program’s performance relative to CBS was particularly notable: the 640, 000-viewer lead over Face the Nation represented the largest overall gap in over 18 months.
What makes this notable is that 'This Week' was identified as the only Sunday public affairs program to grow week to week and year to year in both total viewers and adults 25–54, a pattern that underpins its current ranking and advertiser appeal. Because the program has shown consistent gains across consecutive telecasts and year-over-year comparisons, its audience position reflects both short-term momentum and sustained seasonal strength.
Measured outcomes for individual telecasts and season-to-date tallies are grounded in the Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel ratings from Nielsen Media Research and NTI. Those ratings, along with adjusted averages that now incorporate ABCNL airings and Out of Home viewing, form the basis for the conclusion that 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos' led Sunday public affairs viewing in early 2026.
For broadcasters and advertisers tracking audience shifts, the program’s consecutive weekly wins and demographic strength in adults 25–54 offer a clear signal about where viewers concentrated their attention during the cited period. As the season progressed, the combination of rising telecast numbers and broadened measurement parameters produced demonstrable gains in both total viewers and key advertiser demographics.
