After an Olympic Bounce for \'Today,\' \'G.M.A.\' Bounces Right Back

By BRIAN STELTER

For one day after the Summer Olympics ended, NBC's “Today” show was the No. 1 morning show on television.

But by the second day, ABC's “Good Morning America” was back at No. 1, right where it was before NBC started televising the Olympics in June. ABC stayed there for the rest of the week, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings for the week of Aug. 13.

The ratings, released Monday, are the latest evidence that “Good Morning America” is gradually displacing the “Today” show as the most popular morning show in America. Of course, “Today” could come roaring back at any time - a fact that “G.M.A.” producers reiterate almost every time they talk about the ratings. “We gotta keep it going,” said Tom Cibrowski, the executive producer of “G.M.A.”

But the trend lines currently favor his show, and he knows it.

“G.M.A.” started to score weekly wins i n April, ending the “Today” show's 17-year streak among total viewers. The wins mushroomed after NBC angered Ann Curry's fans by replacing her with Savannah Guthrie. A week before the Olympics, Ms. Guthrie's third week on the job, “G.M.A.” won for the first time among the 25- to 54-year-old viewers coveted by advertisers.

Then the Games began. And as expected, the Olympic takeover of the NBC network gave a big lift to the “Today” show for two weeks. Some days “Today” beat “G.M.A.” by more than two million viewers. But everyone in the television industry expected that. What was unexpected was this: “G.M.A.” bouncing back to No. 1 within a week. Even the most optimistic staff members at ABC thought it would take two weeks. Others guessed three or four weeks or more.

“We're thrilled. We're excited. Yes, it was a great surprise,” Mr. Cibrowski said of the preliminary results, which showed “G.M.A.” with about 232,000 more viewers than â €œToday” for the full week. “But at the same time, it reinforces what we believe in right now - which is our team and the strength of our program.”

In the 25- to 54-year-old demographic, “G.M.A.” was not quite as popular, with an average of 60,000 fewer viewers than “Today.” (The even-more-preliminary ratings had put “G.M.A.” 8,000 ahead of “Today,” briefly giving the staff hope that it had won in that category, too.)

The tight race in the demographic will probably turn the staffs of the two shows even more competitive this week, as if that is even possible. Last week, Robin Roberts, the “G.M.A.” co-host, was on vacation, as was the weather host Sam Champion and, for two days, the co-host George Stephanopoulos; this week they're all back, at “full strength,” as Mr. Cibrowski put it. At the end of the month, however, Ms. Roberts will begin a long leave of absence to receive a bone marrow transplant. Her departure is seen as a major t est for the show this fall - and, in some quarters, as an opportunity for “Today” to claw back some viewers.

NBC asserted on Monday that “Today” had done just that, because it had stayed ahead in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic and had cut down on the total viewer lead that “G.M.A.” had the week before the games. (“G.M.A.” had won by more than half a million viewers that week.) But “Today” started the post-Olympic week about 300,000 viewers ahead of “G.M.A.” It ended the week closer to 200,000 viewers behind.