‘TODAY’ IS #1 IN TOTAL VIEWERS

TODAY Tops GMA in Total Viewers and Key Demo For the Week 

TODAY Posts 9-Month High in Total Viewers

TODAY Has Biggest Single-Day Total Viewer Delivery Since April 2020  

TODAY Wins Key Demo For 26 Straight Sweeps and 75 Straight Months 

TODAY Grows Demo Lead Versus Prior Sweep, Month and Week

NEW YORK – December 1, 2021 – TODAY was the number-one morning show outright last week, topping “Good Morning America” in total viewers and the key demo. The win marks TODAY’s biggest monthly total audience in nine months and largest weekly A25-54 advantage over GMA in more than three years. 

TODAY has also won the A25-54 key demo for 26 consecutive sweeps and 75 months. Compared to the July 2021 sweep, TODAY more than doubled its lead in the key demo versus GMA and grew in total viewers. Month over month, TODAY grew in the key demo and posted the biggest increase in total viewers of the morning shows, narrowing the total viewer gap with GMA by 49%. 

On Thanksgiving, TODAY had its biggest single-day deliveries in total viewers since April 2020 and in the key demo since Thanksgiving 2020. 

Season to date, TODAY is posting its closest total viewer gap with GMA in three years. TODAY has been number-one in the key demo for seven years straight. TODAY’s A25-54 percentage lead over GMA is its largest in 5 years and its A18-49 percentage lead is its largest in 10 years, season to date.

TODAY Digital reached 13 million unique visitors last week, growing week over week. 

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS:

WEEK of NOVEMBER 22-28, 2021

Note: TODAY is based on a three-day average (Mon, Tue, Thu) while GMA and CBS Mornings are based on two-day averages (Mon, Tue). 

 TODAY averaged 1.103 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +247,000 (+29%) and CBS Mornings by +563,000 (+104%)

  • TODAY has ranked #1 among A25-54 viewers for 321 of the last 326 weeks
  • This was TODAY’s biggest demo audience since the same week last season (week of 11/23/2020, also Thanksgiving Week), largest demo lead over GMA since the week of 2/19/18 (Week 2 of PyeongChange Olympics) and biggest advantage over CBS since the week of 8/2/2021 (Week 2 of Tokyo Olympics)
  • TODAY’s demo lead over GMA was up 1% compared to the same week last season (+247,000 vs. +244,000 prior year).
  • Week-over-week, TODAY added +233,000 A25-54 viewers, more than tripled its advantage over GMA (+247,000 vs. +65,000 prior week) and widened its lead over CBS by 78% (+563,000 vs. +317,000 prior week).

TODAY averaged 846,000 A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +254,000 (+43%) and CBS by +444,000 (+110%)

  • TODAY posted its biggest A18-49 delivery since the week of 11/23/2020 (Thanksgiving Week 2020), its largest lead over GMA since the week of 3/23/2020 and widest advantage over CBS since the week of 4/13/2020
  • Week-over-week, TODAY added +205,000 A18-49 viewers, nearly tripling its lead over GMA (+254,000 vs. +86,000 prior week) and widening its lead over CBS by 73% (+444,000 vs. +257,000 prior week).

TODAY averaged 3.727 million total viewers, +285,000 (+8%) higher than GMA and +1.187 million (+47%) more than CBS

  • This represents TODAY’s biggest total viewer average and non-Olympics lead over GMA in a year (since the week of 11/23/2021) as well as its biggest win over CBS since the PyeongChang Winter Olympics (week of 2/12/2018)
  • TODAY was the #1 morning show in total viewers on Monday
  • Last Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), TODAY drew its biggest single-day delivery in total viewers since Monday 4/6/2020 
  • Week-over-week, TODAY increased its total viewership by +467,000 (+14%) and widened its lead over CBS by 84% (+1.187 million vs. +646,000 prior week). 

TODAY reached 13.0M unique visitors last week (13% WoW)

  • TODAY delivered 28M video views across on and off network platforms 
  • TODAY All Day saw 242K hours viewed, its strongest week on record (21% WoW)
  • TODAY newsletters garnered 185K visits
    • These newsletters had an average click-thru rate of 7% and an open rate of 31%

NOVEMBER 2021 SWEEP

 Source: Nielsen, L+SD, November 2021 Sweep (10/28/2021-11/24/2021). Averaged audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.

TODAY ranked #1 in A25-54 for the 26th consecutive sweep period

  • TODAY averaged 901,000 A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +82,000 (+10%) and CBS This Morning by +363,000 (+67%)
  • Compared to prior sweep (July 2021), TODAY posted the biggest gain in A25-54 viewers (+77,000, or +9%), more than doubled its lead over GMA (+82,000 vs. +33,000 in July) and increased its advantage over CBS by 3% (+363,000 vs. +351,000 in July).

Among A18-49 viewers, TODAY has won 28 consecutive sweeps

  • TODAY averaged 656,000 A18-49 viewers, +106,000 (+19%) higher than GMA and +278,000 (+74%) better than CBS
  • Compared to the previous sweep (July 2021), TODAY added the most A18-49 viewers (+70,000, or +12%), doubled its advantage over GMA (+106,000 vs. +51,000 in July), and increased its lead over CBS by 11% (+278,000 vs. +250,000 in July).

TODAY averaged 3.232 million total viewers, leading CBS by +691,000 (+27%)

  • TODAY had its best November sweep win over CBS among total viewers in two years
  • TODAY’s total audience grew by +143,000 (+5%) compared to the July 2021 sweep while improving its lead over CBS by 14% (+691,000 vs. +607,000 in July).
  • Compared to the November 2020 sweep, TODAY’s total viewer advantage over CBS improved by 13% (+691,000 vs. +613,000 in Nov’20).

NOVEMBER 2021 (Monthly)

Among A25-54 viewers:

  • TODAY averaged 931,000 A25-54 viewers, outperforming Good Morning America by +108,000 (+13%) and CBS Mornings by +392,000 (+73%)
  • Month-over-month, TODAY increased its demo audience by +25,000 (+3%) and widened its lead over CBS by 4% (+392,000 vs. +378,000 in October).

Among A18-49 viewers:

  • TODAY averaged 685,000 A18-49 viewers, topping GMA by +129,000 (+23%) and CBS by +306,000 (+81%)
  • TODAY posted its biggest monthly A18-49 lead over GMA in eight months (March 2021)
  • Compared to prior month, TODAY added +31,000 A18-49 viewers (+5%) while improving its lead over GMA by 2% (+129,000 vs. +126,000 in October) and CBS by 15% (+306,000 vs. +267,000 in October).  

Among total viewers:

  • TODAY averaged 3.318 million total viewers, leading CBS by +765,000 (+30%)
  • TODAY posted a nine-month high in total viewership (since February)
  • Month-over-month, TODAY had the biggest increase in total viewers (+141,000, or +4%), narrowed the gap with GMA by 49% (-49,000 vs. -96,000 in October) and widened its lead over CBS by 15% (+765,000 vs. +664,000 in October).  
  • Versus October 2020, TODAY increased its lead over CBS by 16% (+765,000 vs. +660,000 prior year).

TODAY Digital has reached more than 50M unique visitors for eleven of the last twelve months. 

  • TODAY also continues to rank among the top 10 entities in the Lifestyle category for video views and minutes and ranks among the top 5 entities for video viewers (September 2021). 
  • TODAY All Day had one of its strongest month on record as the last five months have all been among the stream’s best five months on record (July, August, September, October & November) 
  • TODAY podcasts also had their second strongest month on record as the last three months have all been among the brand’s best three months on record (September, October & Novembers)

Source: Comscore Multiplatform Media, January – October 2021; Comscore Multiplatform Video Metrix, January – September 2021

2021-22 SEASON-TO-DATE (9/20/2021-11/28/2021)

TODAY has ranked #1 in A25-54 and A18-49 at this point of the season for seven consecutive years

  • On a percentage basis, TODAY’s A25-54 advantage over GMA (13.9%) is at its highest level in five seasons
  • TODAY’s A18-49 percentage advantage over GMA (23.9%) is at its highest level in 10 seasons
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