Nightly Is Only Broadcast To Post Demo Growth Vs 4Q’14 Levels

Nightly’s Demo Advantage Over ABC Has Improved by 243% Year-Over-Year

DECEMBER 30, 2015– “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was the #1 evening newscast in total viewers and all categories for the 4th quarter of 2015. The NBC broadcast has been #1 in total viewers for 32 of the last 33 quarters, and 70 of the last 76 quarters. Nightly has finished #1 in A25-54 viewers for 28 of the last 31 quarters.

The NBC broadcast was the only evening newscast to post A25-54 demo growth versus 4Q14 levels (+1%). Nightly has seen a 201,000 viewer turnaround in the A25-54 gap versus when it trailed ABC by -8,000 a year ago. Nightly’s demo advantage over CBS is also up 13% year-over-year.

Compared to 4Q’14, Nightly has improved its A18-49 gaps over ABC by 81% (+229,000 vs. +126,000 last year) and over CBS by 7% (+421,000 vs. +394,000 a year ago).

The NBC broadcast was also #1 across-the-board for the week of December 21-25, 2015, posting its best A25-54 advantage over ABC in 5 weeks (since week of 11/16/15). Compared to the same week last season, Nightly’s A25-54 advantage over ABC has improved by 243% (+336,000 last week vs. +98,000 a year ago).

Nightly has been #1 across-the board for 25 of the last 27 weeks. The NBC broadcast has been #1 in total viewers all 27 weeks since Holt was named anchor, and for 32 of the last 35 weeks, and 367 of the last 375 weeks.

NOTE: Nightly is based on a 2-day average (Mon-Tue) while ABC and CBS are based on a 3-day average (Mon-Wed).

Weekly Highlights:

Nightly averaged 9.290 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +607,000 (+7%) and CBS by +1.834 million (25%).
Nightly averaged 2.223 million A25-54 viewers, +336,000 (+18%) higher than ABC and +534,000 (+32%) more than CBS.
Nightly averaged 1.561 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +275,000 (+21%) and CBS by +407,000 (+35%).
The NBC broadcast is #1 in A18-49 viewers for 22 consecutive weeks and 30 of the last 33 weeks.
Week-to-week, Nightly posted the biggest across-the-board increases in total viewers (+5%, or +460,000), A25-54 viewers (+4%, or +91,000) and A18-49 viewers (+3%, or +41,000).
Nightly also delivered the biggest gains over 4Q’15 levels in total viewers (+5%, or +450,000), A25-54 viewers (+4%, or +86,000), and A18-49 viewers (+1%, or +23,000).
Q4 Highlights:

Nightly averaged 8.854 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +356,000 (+4%) and CBS by +1.516 million (+21%)
Nightly averaged 2.140 million A25-54 viewers, +193,000 (+10%) higher than ABC and +478,000 (+29%) more than CBS.
Nightly averaged 1.539 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +229,000 (+18%) and CBS by +421,000 (+38%).
Compared to 4Q 2014, Nightly improved its A18-49 gaps over ABC by 81% (+229,000 vs. +126,000 last year) and over CBS by 7% (+421,000 vs. +394,000 a year ago).
WEEK OF DECEMBER 21-25, 2015:

Total Viewers A25-54 Rating A25-54 Viewers A18-49 Rating A18-49 Viewers
NBC 9.290 1.9 2.223 1.2 1.561
CBS 7.456 1.4 1.689 0.9 1.154
ABC 8.683 1.6 1.887 1.0 1.286
For more information contact:
Maggie Steenland
NBC News
212-664-7874
maggie.steenland@nbcuni.com