Savannah Guthrie returned to the Today Show two months after her mom went missing. NBC reportedly thought her return would bring in the viewers. But the opposite seemed to have happened. The morning news program is losing viewers. Keep reading to find out more details.
Today Show Loses Viewers After Savannah Guthrie’s Return
Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, hasn’t been seen since February. She went missing in the early hours of February 1 after having dinner with her other daughter, Annie, the night before. She was last seen getting dropped off at home after dinner. Authorities only recovered footage of a masked person tampering with the cameras.
Savannah Guthrie immediately went to Arizona to search for her mother. Hoda Kotb returned to fill in while she was gone. But as time went on, there wasn’t much she could do. She returned to New York City and her job in April after two months away. The alleged abduction was heavily covered by the media. But Savannah Guthrie’s return to the Today Show didn’t give the ratings a huge bump.
In fact, the latest ratings revealed that the NBC show dipped in the ratings for the week of July 6. The Today Show remained in the top spot for the 25-54 demographic but lost its total viewer lead to ABC’s Good Morning America.
Her Upcoming Departure May Boost Ratings
The ratings dip could have been due to the holiday and not Savannah Guthrie’s return. The Today Show‘s hosting lineup had been changing nearly daily as anchors took time off for summer vacation. Savannah Guthrie was absent for four days last week.
Her influence on the ratings will be clearer in a few weeks. Savannah Guthrie won’t be on the show for a while. She left to film NBC’s upcoming Wordle game show for the 2027 season.
CBS Mornings Suffers Amid Backstage Drama
While NBC and ABC battle for the morning ratings, CBS continues to fall. CBS Mornings is no competition for the Today Show or GMA. However, it did get a little bump in the ratings recently.
The CBS morning news program suffered a huge loss when Tony Dokoupil left to take over the nightly news. However, his popularity hasn’t followed him to CBS Evening News, which often falls behind NBC and ABC’s news coverage.
The credibility of CBS News took a serious hit after Paramount Global merged with Skydance Media and Bari Weiss took over the editing team. 60 Minutes has been gutted after multiple firings and shocking departures.
Tell us in the comments if you think Savannah Guthrie’s return has helped or hurt the ratings.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
