‘TODAY’ WINS 25th WEEK IN DEMO

TODAY Has Been the #1 Morning Show in the Key Demo 25 Out of the Last 26 Weeks

TODAY Has Cut the Total Viewer Gap with GMA By a Giant 78% Versus the Same Week Last Season

TODAY Has Been Within 200k Viewers of GMA for 6 Out of the Last 7 Weeks

GMA Suffers Drastic Losses, Down Double Digits In Both the Key Demo and Total Viewers Year Over Year and Vs. the Same Week Last Year

Season to Date, TODAY Is the #1 Morning Show in Both A25-54 and A18-49

NEW YORK – March 3, 2016 – TODAY was the number-one morning show again last week in the key demo A25-54 while continuing to shrink the total viewer gap with GMA.  TODAY has now won 25 out of the last 26 weeks in the key demo, and has been within just 200k total viewers of GMA for six of the last seven weeks.  TODAY continues as the number-one morning show in both A25-54 and A18-49 for the season.

For the week of February 21, TODAY topped GMA by 179k in A25-54 and by 205k in A18-49.  TODAY came within slight margins of GMA on Tuesday (-30k), Thursday (-62k), and Friday (-60k), and has finished within 100k total viewers of GMA on 4 of the last 6 broadcast days.

Versus the same week last year, TODAY radically cut its total viewer gap with GMA by 78% (a whopping 666k). GMA is the only morning show down double digits, suffering a 23% loss in the key demo and a 17% loss in total viewers versus the same week last year.  GMA is also down 17% in the key demo and 10% in total viewers this season, year over year.

*Please note: As of 12/28/15, Nielsen national ratings are based on an expanded sample known as “NPX,” which effectively doubles the size of the Nielsen panel through a combination of additional meters and HHs. While NPX is now the official currency of record, all data pre-12/28/15 remains based on the old sample — so year-to-year and other comparisons are versus pre-NPX data.

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS: 

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 21

TODAY averaged 1.898 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +179,000 (+10%) and CBS This Morning by +757,000 (+66%)

  • TODAY has been #1 in A25-54 for 9 consecutive weeks and in 25 of the last 26 weeks
  • TODAY has led GMA by at least 100,000 demo viewers for 8 weeks in a row
  • Season-to-date, TODAY has ranked #1 in A25-54 96 times out of 106 rated days.
  • TODAY delivered a 1.60 A25-54 rating, +0.15 points higher than GMA and +0.64 points more than CBS

TODAY averaged 1.462 million A18-49 viewers, +205,000 (+16%) more than GMA and +651,000 (+80%) ahead of CBS

  • TODAY hit a three week high in its A18-49 lead over CBS
  • TODAY’s 1.15 A18-49 rating was +0.16 points higher than GMA and +0.51 points more than CBS

TODAY averaged 4.875 million total viewers, leading CBS by 1.006 million (+26%)

  • In 6 of the last 7 weeks, TODAY’s total viewer gap vs. GMA was below 200,000
  • Last week, TODAY trailed GMA by narrow margins on Tuesday (-30,000), Thursday (-62,000), and Friday (-60,000).  In fact, TODAY has finished within 100,000 total viewers of GMA on 4 of the last 6 broadcast days.

GMA is the only morning show down double digits in both the key demo and total viewers season to date versus a year ago and versus the same week last year.

  • GMA is down -23% in A25-54 and -17% in total viewers versus the same week last year
  • GMA is down -17% in A25-54 and -10% in total viewers this season, year over year

Compared to the same week last season:

  • The total viewer gap between TODAY and GMA was 78% closer (-183,000 last week vs. -849,000 a year ago)
  • TODAY posted a 425,000 viewer turnaround in its A25-54 gap with GMA (+179,000 win last week vs. a -246,000 loss a year ago)
  • TODAY also posted a 278,000 viewer turnaround in its A18-49 gap with GMA (+205,000 win last week vs. a -73,000 loss last year)

Season to date, TODAY is the #1 morning news show among A25-54 and A18-49 viewers

  • TODAY averages 1.840 million A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +8% (+136,000) and CBS by +71% (+765,000).  TODAY’s A25-54 advantage over GMA represents a 285,000 viewer turnaround from a -149,000 deficit at this point last season.
  • In A18-49, TODAY averages 1.392 million and tops GMA by +16% (+195,000) and CBS by +82% (+626,000).  TODAY’s A18-49 lead versus GMA is a 177,000 viewer improvement from last season’s +18,000 lead.
  • Among total viewers, the gap between TODAY and GMA is 56% narrower vs. last season (-265,000 season-to-date versus a -598,000 deficit at this time last season).

Week-to-week, TODAY added +4,000 total viewers and +22,000 A18-49 viewers

TODAY was also up versus 1Q’16-to-date levels in total viewers (+17,000) and A18-49 viewers (+2,000)

RATINGS DATA:

Show Name HH
Rtg
HH
Shr
P2+
000
P18-49
Rtg
P18-49
000
P25-54
Rtg
P25-54
000
TODAY 3.52 13 4,875 1.15 1,462 1.60 1,898
CBS THIS MORNING 2.81 10 3,869 0.64 811 0.96 1,141
GOOD MORNING AMERICA 3.73 14 5,058 0.99 1,257 1.45 1,719

TODAY.COM HIGHLIGHTS:

For the 19th straight month, Today.com reached more consumers than GMA on Yahoo.  Over 42.4 million unique visitors turned to Today.com in January for exclusive interviews and the latest lifestyle, parenting and entertainment news, according to recent data from comScore.  For 25 consecutive months (34 out of the last 35), Today.com has reached more mobile consumers than GMA on Yahoo.

Additionally, Today.com’s mobile unique visitors have grown +76% over the last 12 months while GMA on Yahoo has grown +29% for the same period. As such, Today.com has gone from parity in mobile unique visitors in September 2013 to over 3.7x GMA on Yahoo’s mobile visitor number in January 2016.

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NBC’s TODAY is the news program that informs, entertains, inspires and sets the agenda each morning for Americans. Airing live from 7 am to 11 am ET, TODAY reaches more than 5 million people every day through its broadcast, and millions more through TODAY.com, the TODAY app, and social media platforms. Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Carson Daly, Hoda Kotb, and Kathie Lee Gifford are the anchors and hosts, Noah Oppenheim is the SVP and Executive in Charge, and Don Nash is the executive producer.

For more information contact:

Megan Kopf Stackhouse
NBC News
e: megan.kopf@nbcuni.com

p: 212-664-6205

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