Super Bowl Update

With all of the fuss surrounding the tight morning TV race between ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today, it can be easy to forget that there's a third choice.

But CBS This Morning has taken full advantage of the opportunity to grow its viewer base.  By not falling for the usual hype, it's found a smaller but increasing group of people who want something different.

Evidence of that can be found in the ratings for last week:  Compared to last year, CBS This Morning was up 13% in household viewership, 11% in total viewers, and up a whopping 33% among adults ages 25 to 54, an all-important key metric.  Even better, women seem to be finding a lot to like.  Among women ages 18 to 49, CBS has grown its share by 40%.

Both ABC and NBC, on the other hand, are barely gaining or even shedding viewers in the morning.  NBC's Today, compared to a year ago, is down 14% in households, down 15% in total viewers, and off 24% in the 25-54 age group.  GMA showed small gains - up 3% in households and 8% in the 25-54 group, but flat elsewhere.

And it's not just in the morning where CBS is seeing improvement.

Scott Pelley's CBS Evening News is also gaining viewers - and respect - for its classic, hard-news-first style.  Last week, the third-place newscast was up 5% among households, 4% in total viewers, and 8% among adults ages 25 to 54.

No, those aren't huge gains, but they are better than what its competitors are seeing.  NBC's Evening News with Brian Williams likewise saw an uptick in households (6%) and total viewers (2%), but lost 6% of its 25-54 audience.  ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer grew just 2% in households and 1% in total viewers, but was flat among 25-54 year olds.

And it doesn't stop there.  For the year to date, the CBS Evening News is the only one of the three showing increases in key viewership metrics.  Where it's up - households, total viewers, adults 25-54 - the others are well off the pace.

CBS has narrowed the gap by being different, and that difference is helping.  There is still a way to go before the network can truly say it's returned to its rightful place among the Big Three, but if the current trends continue, that which was once thought impossible could very well come to pass.