TODAY Tops GMA for 22 Straight Quarters and 67 Consecutive Months in Key Demo
TODAY Delivers Largest Demo Lead Over GMA in Four Months
TODAY Increases Demo Lead Over GMA Versus Prior Quarter, Month and Week
TODAY Tops GMA in Total Viewers Last Monday and Friday
NEW YORK – March 30, 2021 – NBC News’ TODAY was the number-one morning show in the key demo for the first quarter in 2021, topping ABC’s “Good Morning America” for 22 straight quarters. TODAY grew its demo lead over GMA versus the prior quarter, month and week, delivering its largest monthly A25-54 win since November and best weekly win since Thanksgiving. For six consecutive years, TODAY ranks first among key demo viewers season-to-date.
TODAY also topped GMA in total viewers last Monday and Friday, cutting the gap with GMA by nearly half versus the prior week. Additionally, TODAY narrowed the total viewer gap by 61% versus the prior month and posted its closest total viewer margins in four months.
TODAY Digital reached a record breaking audience in the first quarter of 2021 with nearly 60M monthly unique visitors, growing year over year in both unique monthly visitors and video views. Additionally, it had one of its largest audiences ever last week with more than 16 million unique visitors.
TODAY HIGHLIGHTS
1ST QUARTER 2021
TODAY ranked #1 in A25-54 for the 22ndconsecutive quarter
- TODAY averaged 1.004 million A25-54 viewers, leading Good Morning America by +103,000 (+11%) and CBS This Morning by +373,000 (+59%)
- TODAY’s lead over GMA improved by 5% vs. prior quarter (+103,000 vs. +98,000 in 4Q’20).
TODAY has ranked #1 in A18-49 for 33 consecutive quarters and 105 of the last 106 quarters (dating back to 4Q 1994)
- TODAY averaged 722,000 A18-49 viewers, +108,000 (+18%) higher than GMA and +269,000 (+59%) ahead of CBS
TODAY averaged 3.332 million total viewers, leading CBS by +510,000 (+18%)
TODAY Digital reached a record breaking audience in 1Q21 with nearly 60M monthly unique visitors (58M)
- TODAY continues to be the only standalone brand to rank among the Top 10 Lifestyle brands with monthly unique visitors (58M) and video views (75M)
- In January and February, TODAY was up year-over-year in both monthly unique visitors (+33%) and video views (+62%)
MARCH 2021
TODAY ranked #1 in A25-54 for the 67thconsecutive month
- TODAY averaged 1.006 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming Good Morning America by +147,000 (+17%) and CBS This Morning by +383,000 (+61%)
- TODAY’s demo lead over GMA hit a four-month high (since November 2020)
- Month-over-month, TODAY widened its demo lead over GMA by 31% (+147,000 vs. +112,000 in February) and CBS by 2% (+383,000 vs. +375,000 prior month)
TODAY was #1 in A18-49 for the 72ndconsecutive month
- TODAY averaged 725,000 A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +143,000 (+25%) and CBS by +261,000 (+56%)
- TODAY’s A18-49 lead over GMA was up 19% vs. February (+143,000 vs. +120,000 prior month), hitting a four-month high
TODAY averaged 3.291 million total viewers, leading CBS by +476,000 (+17%)
- This was TODAY’s closest total viewer gap vs. GMA in four months
- Month-over-month, TODAY narrowed the total viewer gap vs. GMA by 61% (-57,000 vs. -146,000 in February).
WEEK OF MARCH 22-28, 2021
TODAY averaged 981,000 A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +175,000 (+22%) and CBS This Morning by +385,000 (+65%)
- TODAY has now ranked #1 in the key demo for 83 consecutive weeks and 272 of the last 274 weeks
- This represents TODAY’s biggest demo lead over GMA in 17 weeks (since the Thanksgiving holiday week, 11/23/2020)
- TODAY has now led GMA by at least 100,000 A25-54 viewers in six of the last seven weeks
- Week-over-week, TODAY increased its demo advantages over GMA by 21%
TODAY averaged 713,000 A18-49 viewers, outperforming GMA by +170,000 (+31%) and CBS by +250,000 (+54%)
- TODAY widened its A18-49 lead over GMA by 23% compared to prior week
TODAY averaged 3.219 million total viewers, +628,000 (+24%) more than CBS This Morning
- TODAY was the top-rated morning show on two mornings, beating GMA on Monday (+101,000) and Friday (+55,000)
- Week-over-week, TODAY posted the biggest lift in total viewership (+76,000), reduced GMA’s gap by 49% (-29,000 vs. -57,000 prior week) and increased its lead over CBS by 14% (+628,000 vs. +552,000 prior week).
TODAY DIGITAL had one of its top five largest weekly audiences ever with 16.2M unique visitors
- The brand also reached 32M video starts
- TODAY All Day saw 67K hours viewed and 498K video starts with the average on-net viewer watching for nearly 30 minutes
2020-21 SEASON-TO-DATE (9/21/2020-3/28/2021)
TODAY has been #1 in A25-54 at this point of the season for six consecutive years and A18-49 for eight straight years
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