It took 879 weeks, but "Good Morning America" has finally managed to top "Today" in the category advertisers crave the most: the A25-54 demo.

ABC News trumpeted the victory in a cheeky release titled "GOOD MORNING AMERICA WINS GOLD," a clear shot at NBC's coverage of the Olympics.

"GMA" won the week leading up to the Olympics, jumping past "Today" by 12,000 viewers in the demo and a whopping 542,000 in total viewers — its largest margin in 17 years. It's the first time the show has won the demo since 1995, abd the victory means that it has now beat "Today" in every major ratings category. "GMA" has also won the total viewer race for five weeks in a row — a troubling sign for "Today" that suggests the possibility of a more permanent viewer shift.

Of course, as the New York Times pointed out, "Today" bounced back this week, boosted by its exclusive lock on Olympic athletes and video. The NBC show won by a staggering 1.3 million viewers on Monday, for instance. The ultimate question will be whether or not the Games can provide enough of a lift to "Today" to bring it out of the weekly dogfight it's currently in with its ABC rival, or whether it is experiencing a temporary respite because of the Games.

Also, Robin Roberts' medical leave will rob "GMA" of its most popular personality for many weeks.

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  • Matt Lauer

    Lauer co-hosts NBC's "Today" from 7-9 a.m.

  • Guthrie co-hosts NBC's "Today" from 7-9 a.m.

  • Robin Roberts

    Roberts co-hosts ABC's "Good Morning America" from 7-9 a.m.

  • George Stephanopoulos

    Stephanopoulos co-hosts ABC's "Good Morning America" from 7-9 a.m.

  • Charlie Rose

    Rose co-hosts "CBS This Morning" from 7-8 a.m. CBS announced the addition of Rose and Gayle King and a decidedly focused hard news program earlier this year.

  • Gayle King

    King co-hosts "CBS This Morning" from 8-9 a.m.

  • Steve Doocy

    Doocy co-hosts Fox News' "Fox and Friends" from 6-9 a.m. "Fox and Friends" dominates cable news morning shows.

  • Gretchen Carlson

    Carlson co-hosts Fox News' "Fox and Friends" from 6-9 a.m.

  • Brian Kilmeade

    Kilmeade co-hosts Fox News' "Fox and Friends" from 6-9 a.m.

  • Joe Scarborough

    Scarborough co-hosts MSNBC's "Morning Joe" from 6-9 a.m. "Morning Joe" focuses solely on hard news and political commentary.

  • Mika Brzezinski

    Brzezinski co-hosts MSNBC's "Morning Joe" from 6-9 a.m.

  • Soledad O'Brien

    O'Brien co-hosts CNN's 7-9 a.m. morning news program. CNN's "American Morning" fell behind MSNBC and even its own HLN. The network recently announced the return of O'Brien and the replacement of "Amerian Morning" with two new morning programs.

  • Zoraida Sambolin

    Sambolin co-hosts CNN's 5-7 a.m. morning news program.