‘TODAY’ WINS 7 STRAIGHT WEEKS

TODAY Posts Its Best Winning Streak in More Than 3 Years, Topping GMA for 7 Weeks Straight in the Key Demo

TODAY is #1 in the Key Demo for the First Month of the Season, a First in 4 Years

TODAY Has Cut the Total Viewer Gap with GMA in Half Vs. the Same Period Last Year

GMA Has Seen the Steepest Losses of the Morning Shows, Down Double Digits in Both the Key Demo and Total Viewers Vs. the Same Week Last Year

TODAY Continues as the #1 Morning Show in A18-49 

NEW YORK – October 22, 2015 – TODAY was once again the number-one morning show in the key demo A25-54 last week.  TODAY’s win marks seven straight weeks in first place beating Good Morning America in the key demo for fourteen weeks this year. TODAY is also number-one for the first month of the season in the key demo, a first since September 2011.

For the week of October 12, TODAY topped GMA by 42k in the key demo.  The win marks the first time TODAY has won seven straight weeks in the key demo since May-July 2012. TODAY also cut the total viewer gap with GMA versus the same week last year by 49% (367k).

Season to date, TODAY has radically cut its total viewer gap with GMA by 55% (a whopping 476k) versus the same period last year.  GMA has seen the steepest losses of the morning shows, suffering a 19% loss in the key demo and a 12% loss in total viewers, versus the same week last year.  TODAY remains the number-one show in A18-49 for the year.

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS:

The last time TODAY won the first 4 weeks of a season among A25-54 viewers was during the 2011-12 season

TODAY averaged 1.695 million A25-54 viewers, +42,000 (+3%) ahead of GMA and +789,000 (+87%) more than CBS This Morning

• This is TODAY’s 7th consecutive week as the #1 morning program in the A25-54 demo, its best streak in over three years (since the weeks of 5/28/2012 through 7/9/2012)
• TODAY posted its best A25-54 advantage versus CBS in over four months (since the week of 6/1/2015)
• TODAY won three mornings in the demo during the week (Mon-Wed), bringing its 2015 totals to 72 daily A25-54 wins and 14 weekly victories
• TODAY delivered a 1.43 A25-54 rating, +0.04 points higher than GMA and +0.67 points better than CBS

TODAY averaged 1.274 million A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +127,000 (+11%) and more than doubling CBS by +658,000 (+107%)

• TODAY held its biggest A18-49 lead over CBS since the week of 6/1/2015
• TODAY’s 1.00 A18-49 rating topped GMA by +0.10 points and CBS by +0.51 points

TODAY averaged 4.415 million total viewers, outperforming CBS by +1.161 million (+36%)

• TODAY’s total viewer advantage versus CBS hit a four-week high (since week of 9/14/2015)

Versus the same week last season, TODAY’s total viewer gap with GMA was reduced by 49% (-378,000 last week vs. -745,000 a year ago)

• TODAY posted a 127% turnaround in the A25-54 race against GMA year-over-year (+42,000 win last week vs. -158,000 last year)
• TODAY also widened its A18-49 advantage over GMA to +127,000 from a +6,000 lead last year
• GMA posted losses in P2+ and A25-54 YoY; GMA’s declines were the steepest of the morning shows (down -12% P2+, -19% in A25-54)

Week-to-week, TODAY added +12,000 total viewers and +39,000 A25-54 viewers

• TODAY saw a 20% improvement in its lead over GMA week-to-week
• Versus CBS, TODAY’s leads improved by 18% in total viewers, 11% among A25-54 viewers, and 4% among A18-49 viewers compared to the prior week

Over the first four weeks of the 2015-16 season, TODAY’s is the #1 morning news show among A25-54 and A18-49 viewers

• In A25-54, TODAY leads GMA by +4% (+61,000) and CBS by +76% (+730,000).  TODAY’s A25-54 advantage over GMA is a 126% turnaround from a -235,000 deficit at the same point last season.
• In A18-49, TODAY is +15% (+173,000) ahead of GMA and +94% (+629,000) higher than CBS.
• In total viewers, the gap between TODAY and GMA has been reduced by 55% (-395,000 this season versus -871,000 last year at this time)

RATINGS DATA:

TODAY.COM AND SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS:

For the 16th straight month, Today.com reached more consumers than GMA on Yahoo.  Over 30.8 million unique visitors turned to Today.com in September for exclusive interviews and the latest lifestyle, parenting and entertainment news, according to recent data from comScore.  For 24 consecutive months (31 out of the last 32), Today.com has reached more mobile consumers than GMA on Yahoo.

Additionally, Today.com’s mobile unique visitors have grown +27% over the last 12 months while GMA on Yahoo has grown +12% for the same period. As such,Today.com has gone from parity in mobile unique visitors in September 2013 to almost 3x GMA on Yahoo’s mobile visitor number in September 2015.

TODAY also continues to top GMA’s fan base on Facebook with 4.7 million fans for TODAY versus 4.4 million for GMA, as of September 2015.  TODAY’s Facebook fan base grew by 40.5k fans in September compared to the 32.6k fans GMA added.

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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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