On January 14th, 1952, "The Today Show" aired for the first time on NBC. Originally a two-hour program airing on weekdays from 7:00-9:00 a.m., it began to air on Sundays in 1987, and on Saturdays in 1992. In 2000, the show was expanded to three hours, and was later expanded to four hours in 2007. The "Today Show" dominated morning news for decades until the late 1980s, when ABC's "Good Morning America" overtook "The Today Show". The show overtook the lead in the Nielsen ratings on December 11th, 1995, and held on to that position until April 9th, 2012, when it was again overtaken by GMA. It was the first of its genre in American television and in the world, and after 73 years of broadcasting, it is the fifth longest-running United States television series.
