By The Associated Press AP

4:14 p.m. AKDT, April 9, 2012
NEW YORK—
Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and U.S. vice presidential candidate, is largely responsible for NBC’s "Today" morning show repelling a challenge from Katie Couric.

The Nielsen ratings company said Monday that “Today” beat ABC's "Good Morning America" in the ratings last week by a margin of 210,000 viewers. That's one week after the gap between the two shows shrank to 119,000, the smallest in seven years.

Smelling a victory, ABC brought former "Today" anchor Couric in as a guest host last week. But "Today" countered on Tuesday with Palin, who holds a grudge against Couric for an interview that didn't go well in the 2008 presidential race.

Two weeks ago, "Good Morning America" beat the "Today" show on Tuesday. But Palin turned that around emphatically.