'TODAY' WINS THE FEBRUARY SWEEP IN DEMO

TODAY Won Its 3rd Straight Sweep In the Key Demo and Posted Its Biggest Sweep Win Over GMA Since May 2012

TODAY Won Super Tuesday Outright in Total Viewers, the Key Demo and A18-49

GMA Is Down Double Digits In Triple Measures: Year Over Year, Vs. the February Sweep 2015, 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 10, 2016 – TODAY was the number-one morning show for the February 2016 sweep, marking its third straight sweep victory in the key demo A25-54. TODAY posted its biggest key demo sweep advantage over GMA in nearly four years (since May 2012). TODAY also posted its narrowest sweep margin with GMA in total viewers since February 2014 (Sochi Olympics). TODAY has now won 26 out of the last 27 weeks in the key demo. TODAY continues as the number-one morning show in both A25-54 and A18-49 for the season.

For the week of February 29, TODAY won Super Tuesday outright in total viewers, A25-54 and A18-49, proving once again, more viewers turn to TODAY when news breaks. TODAY narrowed the total viewer margin with GMA by a giant 57% versus the same week last year.

GMA is the only morning show down double digits suffering a 16% loss in the key demo and a 12% loss in total viewers versus the same week last year. GMA is down 17% in the demo and 10% in total viewers this season, year over year. GMA is also down 16% in the demo and 11% in total viewers February 2016 versus February 2015.

*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:

FEBRUARY 2016 SWEEP

TODAY won its 3rd consecutive sweep period overall among A25-54 viewers

TODAY averaged 1.937 million, +167,000 (+9%) more than GMA and +763,000 (+65%) higher than CBS This Morning

This represents TODAY’s biggest A25-54 advantage over GMA in any sweep since May 2012
Compared to February 2015, TODAY posted a 280,000 turnaround in its A25-54 margin versus GMA (+167,000 win during Feb’16 vs. a -113,000 loss in Feb’15)
GMA delivered its lowest February demo ever

TODAY won its 5th consecutive sweep among A18-49 viewers and its 84th of the last 87 sweeps (dating back to July 1994)

TODAY averaged 1.480 million A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +188,000 (+15%) and CBS by +631,000 (+74%)

Versus the February 2015 sweep, TODAY more than tripled its A18-49 advantage over GMA by 230% (+188,000 during Feb’16 vs. +57,000 in Feb’15)

In total viewers, TODAY had its narrowest sweep margin vs. GMA since Feb’14 (Sochi Olympics); excluding Olympics, it was the closest P2+ gap since May 2012 (TODAY’s last sweep victory)

TODAY averaged 4.900 million total viewers, leading CBS by +977,000 (+25%) [and trailing GMA by just -172,000 (-3%)]

Versus GMA, TODAY posted a 71% reduction in the February sweep total viewer gap (-172,000 during Feb’16 vs. -586,000 in Feb’15)
This is the 6th consecutive sweep period in which TODAY narrowed the total viewer gap vs. GMA (starting with November 2014)

FEBRUARY MONTHLY

TODAY has now been #1 in A25-54 for 6 consecutive months and in 7 of the last 8 months

TODAY had its best monthly A25-54 advantage over GMA since August 2012

TODAY posted its best monthly total viewer gap vs. GMA since February 2014

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 29

On Super Tuesday, TODAY was the #1 morning news program in total viewers, A25-54, and A18-49

TODAY averaged 5.033 million total viewers, leading GMA by +132,000 and CBS by +1.241 million
TODAY averaged 1.930 million A25-54 viewers, +196,000 more than GMA and +811,000 ahead of CBS
TODAY averaged 1.469 million A18-49 viewers, topping GMA by +207,000 and CBS by +639,000

For the week, TODAY averaged 1.905 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +85,000 (+5%) and CBS This Morning by +774,000 (+69%)

TODAY has now won 10 consecutive weeks and 26 of the last 27 weeks among A25-54 viewers
TODAY posted its best A25-54 margin over CBS in four weeks
TODAY delivered a 1.60 A25-54 rating, +0.07 points ahead of GMA and +0.65 points higher than CBS

TODAY averaged 1.421 million A18-49 viewers, +88,000 (+7%) more than GMA and +600,000 (+73%) more than CBS

TODAY’s 1.12 A18-49 rating was 0.07 points higher than GMA and 0.47 points better than CBS

TODAY averaged 4.93 million total viewers, leading CBS by +1.141 million (+30%)

TODAY hit six-week highs in total viewer audience and its advantage over CBS (since week of 1/18/2016)

GMA is the only morning show down double digits in both the key demo and total viewers season to date versus a year ago, versus the same week last year, and versus the 2015 February sweep.

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
GMA is down -16% in A25-54 and -11% in total viewers February 2016 versus February 2015

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

TODAY averages 1.843 million A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +8% (+134,000) and CBS by +71% (+766,000). TODAY’s A25-54 advantage over GMA represents a 282,000 viewer turnaround from a -148,000 deficit at this point last season.
In A18-49, TODAY averages 1.394 million and tops GMA by +16% (+191,000) and CBS by +81% (+626,000). TODAY’s A18-49 lead versus GMA is a 174,000 viewer improvement from last season’s +17,000 lead.
Among total viewers, the gap between TODAY and GMA is 56% narrower vs. last season (-267,000 season-to-date versus a -604,000 deficit at this time last season).

Versus the same week last season:

TODAY posted a 210,000 viewer turnaround in its A25-54 gap vs. GMA (+85,000 win last week vs. a -125,000 loss a year ago)
TODAY saw a 109,000 viewer turnaround in its A18-49 gap vs. GMA (+88,000 win last week vs. a -21,000 loss last year)
The total viewer margin between TODAY and GMA was 57% narrower (-311,000 last week vs. -731,000 a year ago)

RATINGS DATA:

FEBRUARY 2016 SWEEP

Net	HH Rtg	HH Shr	P2+ Imps	P18-49 Rtg	P18-49 Imps	P25-54 Rtg	P25-54 Imps
TODAY	3.55	13	4,900	1.17	1,480	1.63	1,937
CBS THIS MORNING	2.85	11	3,923	0.67	849	0.99	1,174
GOOD MORNING AMERICA	3.73	14	5,072	1.02	1,292	1.49	1,770

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 29

Show Name	HH Rtg	HH Shr	P2+ Imps	P18-49 Rtg	P18-49 Imps	P25-54 Rtg	P25-54 Imps
TODAY	3.56	13	4,933	1.12	1,421	1.60	1,905
CBS THIS MORNING	2.80	10	3,792	0.65	821	0.95	1,131
GOOD MORNING AMERICA	3.83	14	5,244	1.05	1,333	1.53	1,820

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