NBC Averages 3 Million Viewers in the Demo, Over 1 Million More than Third Place ABC
NBC Ranks #1 Across the Board Among Broadcast and Cable Networks, Averaging More than 7 Million Total Viewers
NEW YORK (October 5, 2016) – More Americans tuned to NBC News and MSNBC combined for coverage of the 2016 vice presidential debate than any other broadcast or cable television network. According to Nielsen Media Research fast national data, the two networks drew a combined total of 10.2 million viewers.
NBC led the broadcast and cable networks across the board during its primetime coverage from 9 p.m. to 10:36 p.m. ET. NBC averaged 7.028 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by 879,000 (+14%) and CBS by 566,000 (+9%). Among A25-54 viewers, NBC News averaged 3 million viewers, leading ABC by 1.092 million (+59%) and CBS by 1.067 million (+57%). In A18-49, NBC averaged 2.456 million, topping ABC by 947,000 (+63%) and CBS by 1.036 million (+73%).
MSNBC’s coverage of the debate (9 p.m. to 10:45pm ET) averaged 3.122 million total viewers, 901,000 A25-54 viewers and 733,000 A18-49 viewers.
Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd anchored NBC News’ primetime coverage, joined by Tom Brokaw, and others. Rachel Maddow and Brian Williams anchored MSNBC’s coverage, joined by Chris Matthews. Both programs were supported by the full team of NBC News and MSNBC contributors and correspondents.
OCTOBER 4, 2016
Broadcast Specials: 9-10:36 p.m. ET
| Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Rating | A18-49 Viewers | |
| NBC | 7.028 | 2.45 | 2.950 | 1.91 | 2.456 |
| CBS | 6.462 | 1.57 | 1.884 | 1.11 | 1.420 |
| ABC | 6.149 | 1.55 | 1.858 | 1.18 | 1.509 |
Cable Primetime: 9-10:45 p.m. ET
| Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Rating | A18-49 Viewers | |
| MSNBC | 3.122 | 0.75 | 0.901 | 0.57 | 0.733 |
| CNN | 4.140 | 1.38 | 1.653 | 1.14 | 1.462 |
| FNC | 6.065 | 1.27 | 1.525 | 0.89 | 1.147 |
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ABOUT NBC NEWS AND MSNBC
More Americans watch NBC News and MSNBC than any news organization in the world. NBC News is a global leader in news across all broadcast and digital platforms. Its leading and award-winning television news broadcasts include NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TODAY, Meet the Press, and Dateline, as well as primetime specials and breaking news reports. For the 2015-2016 season, all four NBC News broadcasts were #1 in the key news demo. MSNBC is the premier cable destination for breaking and live news coverage, in-depth analysis, and influential voices – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The rapidly-growing NBC News Digital Group, along with the SiriusXM TODAY Show and MSNBC radio channels and NBC News Radio on the iHeartMedia 24/7 News Network, provide continuous content to consumers wherever they are, whenever they want it.
NBC News is part of the NBCUniversal News Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast Corporation. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit www.NBCUniversal.com.
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For more information contact:
Jake Urbanski
NBC News
o: (212) 664-3211
c: (646) 823-2133
e: jake.urbanski@nbcuni.com
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