Ratings: "GMA" tops "Today; "Breaking Bad" sets a record; "Political Animals" has soft debut

Savannah Guthrie appears on the "Today" show set during a broadcast on Aug. 10, 2011, in New York.

/ Peter Kramer,AP Photo/NBC

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - 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.

This represents the largest lead by "GMA" in more than 17 years, and the show extended its top-ranked status to three consecutive weeks, ABC said.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the fifth-season premiere of AMC's "Breaking Bad" grabbed the show's biggest audience to date - 2.9 million viewers. With an encore airing later that night, viewership rose to 3.5 million viewer

That audience was up 14 percent from the previous season premiere, even though this year's show was not carried on Dish Network because of a fee dispute.

On the other hand, "Political Animals" with Sigourney Weaver on USA network has a relatively soft debut Sunday night, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

It brought in 2.6 million viewers, with 834,000 viewers falling into the adults 25-54 demo and 675,000 with adults 18-49.