Nightly More Than Doubled Its A25-54 Advantage Over ABC By 112% Vs. 2015 February Sweep

Nightly Outperformed ABC By 330K Viewers On Wednesday, Following Super Tuesday Contests

MARCH 8, 2016– “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was America’s #1 newscast across the board for the 2016 February sweep period, marking its 34th consecutive sweep period win and its 9th straight February sweep win among total viewers.

Nightly more than doubled its A25-54 advantage over ABC by 112% versus the 2015 February sweep period (+125,000 this year vs. +59,000 in Feb’15).

On Wednesday, following the Super Tuesday contests, Nightly outperformed ABC by +333,000 total viewers and +249,000 A25-54 viewers.

Nightly posted week-to-week growth in all key categories, including total viewers (+11,000), A25-54 viewers (+19,000), and A18-49 viewers (+13,000).

Week-to-week, the NBC broadcast improved its gap over CBS in total viewers by 27% (1.579 million vs. +1.241 million during the previous week), in A25-54 viewers by 33% (+480,000 vs. +360,000 during the prior week) and A18-49 viewers by 23%.

Season-to-date, Nightly is the #1 evening news program in total viewers, A25-54 viewers, and A18-49 viewers.

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.

2016 February Sweep:

• Nightly averaged 9.117 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +49,000 (+0.5%) and CBS by +1.519 million (20%).
• Nightly averaged 2.245 million A25-54 viewers, +125,000 (+6%) higher than ABC and +421,000 (+23%) more than CBS.
• Nightly averaged 1.633 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +130,000 (+9%) and CBS by +396,000 (+32%).
• Nightly has won 34 consecutive sweep periods among total viewers and 9 straight February sweeps.

Week of February 29-March 4:

• Nightly averaged 8.924 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +7,000 (+0.1%) and CBS by +1.579 million (21%).
• Nightly averaged 2.177 million A25-54 viewers, +61,000 (+3%) higher than ABC and +480,000 (+28%) more than CBS.
• Nightly averaged 1.584 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +46,000 (+3%) and CBS by +430,000 (+37%).
• Nightly has been #1 among total viewers for 34 of the last 37 weeks, and 375 of the last 387 weeks.
• Nightly won its 14^th consecutive week in A25-54 demo viewers and has been #1 in 35 of the last 37 weeks.
• The NBC broadcast is #1 in A18-49 viewers for 32 consecutive weeks, 36 of the last 37 weeks, and 40 of the last 43 weeks.

Season-to-Date Highlights:

• Nightly is averaging 9.084 million total viewers, leading ABC by +245,000 (+3% )and CBS by +1.523 million (+20%).
• Nightly is averaging 2.227 million A25-54 viewers, leading ABC by +198,000 (+10%) and CBS by +467,000 (+27%).
• Nightly has widened its A25-54 lead vs. ABC by 158,000 viewers versus last season (+198,000 lead this season vs. a +40,000 gap last year).
• Nightly is averaging 1.611 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +211,000 (+15 %) and CBS by +416,000 (+35%).
• Nightly has improved its A18-49 advantage over ABC by 46% versus last season (vs. +145,000 last season).

2016 FEBRUARY SWEEP:

	Total Viewers	A25-54 Rating	A25-54 Viewers	A18-49 Rating	A18-49 Viewers
NBC	9.117	1.9	2.245	1.3	1.633
CBS	7.598	1.5	1.824	1.0	1.237
ABC	9.068	1.8	2.120	1.2	1.503

 

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 29- MARCH 4, 2016:

	Total Viewers	A25-54 Rating	A25-54 Viewers	A18-49 Rating	A18-49 Viewers
NBC	8.924	1.8	2.177	1.2	1.584
CBS	7.345	1.4	1.697	0.9	1.154
ABC	8.917	1.8	2.116	1.2	1.538