George Stephanopoulos and the quiet pull of Sunday mornings: why “This Week” is winning viewers now

On a Sunday morning measured in small habits—coffee poured, phones face down, a living room settling into silence—george stephanopoulos is at the center of a program that is again pulling the largest national audience in its category. “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 on Sunday, March 1, 2026, drawing 3. 066 million viewers and 457, 000 Adults 25-54, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

What do the latest Nielsen numbers say about “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”?

The most recent snapshot shows “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” in first place for its fourth consecutive telecast, leading Sunday public affairs programs in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. Nielsen Media Research’s Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings placed the March 1, 2026 broadcast at 3. 066 million Total Viewers and 457, 000 Adults 25-54.

The strength is not limited to a single morning. Earlier in the same period, the Feb. 15, 2026 broadcast ranked No. 1 as well, with 3. 016 million Total Viewers and 412, 000 Adults 25-54, also based on Nielsen’s Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel ratings. That consistency is part of the broader claim from the program’s materials: season to date, “This Week” is the No. 1 Sunday public affairs program in Total Viewers and is delivering its largest lead over NBC in 29 years.

Why does this streak matter to viewers—and to the people who make the show?

Ratings can feel like a distant scoreboard, but they land on real desks and real schedules. A first-place finish shapes how a newsroom plans its next week, how producers allocate resources, and how talent teams pace their coverage. For viewers, the same numbers suggest a choice: among Sunday public affairs options, more people are selecting this specific hour and its tone of conversation.

The team at the center of the program is clearly defined. George Stephanopoulos is the anchor. Martha Raddatz is chief global affairs correspondent and co-anchor. Jonathan Karl is chief Washington correspondent and co-anchor. Those roles, spelled out in the program’s release materials, matter because Sunday public affairs broadcasts are personality-driven as much as they are headline-driven: viewers often return not just for topics, but for the stability of familiar interviewers and the cadence of a show’s questions.

Methodology also affects what “winning” means. Nielsen’s national ratings include Out of Home (OOH) viewing beginning Aug. 31, 2020. Beginning Dec. 26, 2022, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings. The materials also note that Nielsen ratings for “This Week” include additional airings in select markets, and that averages are based on regular telecasts. These details do not change the headline result, but they explain how modern viewing—beyond a traditional living-room television—now sits inside the same measurement.

How is “This Week” growing week to week and year to year?

One of the most notable statements in the current materials is that “This Week” is the only Sunday public affairs program to grow week to week and year to year in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54. Growth in both comparisons suggests momentum rather than a one-off spike.

Even competitive context is spelled out. For the Feb. 15, 2026 telecast, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was preempted for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The materials also include a note that CBS’ numbers are based on averages for both “Face the Nation” and “Face the Nation-2. ” In another comparison, “This Week” outperformed CBS’ “Face the Nation” by 640, 000 Total Viewers, marking its largest overall viewer lead in over 1. 5 years. In a category where small shifts can decide the weekly winner, these terms of comparison—what aired, what was preempted, how programs are averaged—are part of the reality behind the rankings.

What changes in distribution and measurement are shaping the audience?

Part of the show’s reach is linked to where it appears beyond its main broadcast window. Beginning Sept. 29, 2025, “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” averages include airings on ABCNL, including distributors such as YouTube and Roku. The ratings materials also clarify that Nielsen includes additional airings in select markets. Combined with OOH viewing, this means the “national audience” is no longer just a single broadcast at a single time on a single device; it is an aggregate that captures more of how people actually watch.

There is a human dimension inside that technical language. A commuter watching outside the home, a viewer catching an additional airing, someone pressing play in a different distribution stream—these are different lives and routines, each adding a few counted minutes that ultimately build into millions. The measurement system does not tell us what each viewer felt, but it does show that the habit of tuning in is holding, and in key measures, rising.

What happens next for a show leading its category?

For now, the numbers are the clearest statement: “This Week” is at the top of the Sunday public affairs field in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 on the measured dates, and it is doing so repeatedly. The season-to-date framing—paired with the claim of the largest lead over NBC in 29 years—adds a longer arc to the weekly wins.

At the same time, the methods note that all of this is captured through Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel ratings, with national ratings including Out of Home viewing and certain additional airings. These are not footnotes to the story; they are part of what a modern audience is.

Back in that quiet living room, the moment is simple: a familiar set, a familiar table of voices, and the sense that Sunday is a time to check in on power and policy before the week starts again. In a crowded media environment, the latest Nielsen measurements show that george stephanopoulos and the program built around him are still, week after week, the choice millions are making.

Image caption (alt text): george stephanopoulos on the set of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” as the program leads Sunday public affairs ratings.