A majority of morning viewers has greeted the arrival of Savannah Guthrie with a yawn in her first week as "Today" show co-anchor.

NBC's "Today" was beaten last week by ABC archrival "Good Morning America"by 357,000 viewers, the Nielson Co. said.

"GMA" drew an average of 4.57 million viewers, compared with 4.21 million for "Today," according to preliminary Nielsen figures released Monday.

This represents the largest lead by "GMA" over "Today" in more than 17 years, while extending its top-ranked status to three consecutive weeks, ABC said.

Meanwhile, in the 25-to-54 demographic, "GMA" landed just 2,000 viewers behind "Today." It was the narrowest margin in that demo in nearly 17 years, the network said.

Final Nielsen numbers will be released later this week.

"Today" had been the undisputed morning champ in the ratings since 1995 until this spring, when a resurgent "GMA" snapped NBC's winning streak by seizing the top spot several times.