NBC Broadcast is #1 Across the Board, Widens Advantages over ABC in all Categories Week-to-Week
Nightly is #1 In Total Viewers For 35 Of Last 38 Weeks
MARCH 15, 2016– “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” is #1 in total viewers and all categories for the week of March 7-11, marking 35 wins in the 38 weeks since Holt was named anchor. Nightly posted its best total viewer margin and widest demo gap vs. ABC in four weeks (week of 2/8/16). The NBC broadcast is #1 in A25-54 viewers for the 15th straight week and 36 of the last 38 weeks.
On Tuesday, the night of key primaries including Michigan and Mississippi, Nightly outperformed ABC by nearly +200,000 total viewers and nearly +250,000 A25-54 viewers.
Compared to the same week last season, Nightly delivered gains across-the-board in total viewers, (+8%, or +611,000), A25-54 viewers (+8%, or +150,000), and A18-49 viewers (+6%, or +89,000) and posted a 221,000 viewer turnaround in its A25-54 gap vs. ABC (+148,000 win last week vs. a -73,000 loss a year ago). Nightly also improved its total viewer lead over ABC by 600% (+77,000 last week vs. +11,000 a year ago) and its A18-49 lead by 130% (+99,000 last week vs. +43,000 last year).
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.
Weekly Highlights:
- Nightly averaged 8.742 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +77,000 (+0.9%) and CBS by +1.315 million (18%).
- Nightly averaged 2.109 million A25-54 viewers, +148,000 (+8%) higher than ABC and +339,000 (19%) more than CBS.
- Nightly averaged 1.492 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +99,000 (+7%) and CBS by +281,000 (+23%).
- Nightly has been #1 among total viewers for 35 of the last 38 weeks, and 376 of the last 388 weeks.
- Nightly won its 15th consecutive week in A25-54 demo viewers and has been #1 in 36 of the last 38 weeks.
- The NBC broadcast is #1 in A18-49 viewers for 33 consecutive weeks, 37 of the last 38 weeks, and 41 of the last 44 weeks.
Season-to-Date Highlights:
- Nightly is averaging 9.069 million total viewers, leading ABC by +238,000 (+3% )and CBS by +1.514 million (+20%).
- Nightly is averaging 2.222 million A25-54 viewers, leading ABC by +196,000 (+10%) and CBS by +461,000 (+26%).
- Nightly has widened its A25-54 lead vs. ABC by 160,000 viewers versus last season (+196,000 lead this season vs. a +36,000 gap last year).
- Nightly is averaging 1.606 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +206,000 (+15 %) and CBS by +410,000 (+34%).
WEEK OF MARCH 7-11, 2016:
Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Rating | A18-49 Viewers | |
NBC | 8.742 | 1.8 | 2.109 | 1.2 | 1.492 |
CBS | 7.427 | 1.5 | 1.770 | 1.0 | 1.211 |
ABC | 8.665 | 1.7 | 1.961 | 1.1 | 1.393 |