\'Good Morning America\' Notches First Sweeps Win Over \'Today\'

ABC's “Good Morning America” has won its first television sweeps month in nearly 20 years, reflecting its newfound status as America's No. 1 morning show.

Nielsen ratings released on Friday showed that “G.M.A.” averaged 5.31 million viewers in November, 466,000 more than NBC's “Today” show. The race was much closer among the 25- to 54-year-olds whom both shows covet: in that category, “G.M.A.” had 28,000 more viewers than “Today.”

“G.M.A.” put an end to the “Today” show's 16-year weekly winning streak among total viewers in April, and its streak among 25- to 54-year-olds in July. But November is the first so-called sweeps month that “G.M.A.” has, for lack of a better word, swept.

The sweeps months (February, May, July, November) are relics of an earlier television age, when collecting detailed ratings all the time was too expensive. But they still carry outsize influence on programming and advertising decisions. (By Nielsen 's definition, November started on Oct. 25 and ended on Nov. 21.)

ABC said in a news release on Friday that “G.M.A.” had not won any sweeps month in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic since July 1994.

What now? Seemingly, the network's next goal for “G.M.A.” would be to win an entire television season. Nevertheless, executives at the show insist that they don't look that far ahead.

The competition between “G.M.A.” and “Today” remains fierce, as shown by the victory by “Today” in the 25- to 54-year-old group last week. The margin of victory was slight - 29,000 - and the week was unusual because of the Thanksgiving holiday. (The two shows only three of the shows' five weekday broadcasts were  included in the ratings totals.) Nonetheless, the win validates NBC's argument that “Today” is recovering from the ratings weakness it showed earlier this year.

But “G.M.A.” is on track to win again this week. On Wednesday, the show had its single biggest margin of victory over “Today” to date, 1.3 million viewers, largely because of tie-ins with “Dancing With the Stars,” which finished its season the night before. The winners and the runners-up of the dancing competition were interviewed on “G.M.A.”

Earlier this month, NBC announced a producer change at the “Today” show. Don Nash will be the executive producer effective on Monday, succeeding Jim Bell, who has held that job for seven years and is moving full time to NBC Sports. Alexandra Wallace, an NBC News executive, will be the executive in charge of the show.

Brian Stelter writes about television and digital media. Follow @brianstelter on Twitter and facebook.com/brianstelter on Facebook.