TODAY Tops GMA in Total Viewers and Key Demo in August, Posting Biggest Advantage Since PyeongChang Olympics
TODAY Wins in A25-54 for 72 Straight Months
TODAY Grows Demo Lead Over GMA Year Over Year, Month Over Month and Week Over Week
TODAY Is Only Morning Program to Grow Month to Month in Total Viewers
NEW YORK – August 31, 2021 – TODAY was the number-one morning show outright for the month of August 2021, topping “Good Morning America” in total viewers and the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos. The win marks TODAY’s first across-the-board monthly win since March 2020 and biggest advantage over GMA since the PyeongChang Olympics.
TODAY has now won the key demo for 72 straight months and was the only morning show to grow in total viewers versus last month. Additionally, TODAY delivered a three-month high in the key demo, growing its A25-54 lead over GMA year over year, month over month and week over week.
Last week, TODAY posted the most growth of the morning shows in both total viewers and the key demo and increased its lead in A25-54 by more than GMA and CBS combined. TODAY also won across the board on Tuesday and Friday last week.
For six straight years TODAY has been the number-one morning show in the all-important key demo at this point in the season.
TODAY Digital averaged 54 million monthly visitors in August and has seen more than 50M unique visitors for eight of the last nine months. Last week, TODAY Digital reached 11.3 million unique visitors last week, growing week over and week and saw 31 million video views across on and off net platforms, growing year over year.
TODAY HIGHLIGHTS
AUGUST 2021
TODAY ranked #1 in total viewers for the first time in 17 months
- TODAY averaged 3.206 million total viewers, topping GMA by +94,000 (+3%) and leading CBS by +745,000 (+30%)
- This was TODAY’s first total viewer win since March 2020 (tie), first outright win since December 2019, and widest monthly advantage over GMA since February 2018 (PyeongChang Olympics)
- TODAY was the only morning news show to increase its total viewership compared to August 2020 (+12,000 or +0.4%) while also increasing its lead over CBS by 17% (+745,000 vs. +648,000 prior year)
- TODAY added +164,000 total viewers to its average compared to July (the only morning news show with month-over-month growth) and widened its lead over CBS by 40% (+745,000 vs. +532,000 prior month)
TODAY ranked #1 in A25-54 for the 72nd consecutive month
- TODAY averaged 908,000 A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +131,000 (+17%) and CBS This Morning by +415,000 (+84%)
- TODAY hit a three-month high in A25-54 viewership. Versus the competition, TODAY held its widest monthly demo lead over GMA since March (five-month high) and best advantage over CBS since last November (nine-month high)
- Compared to August 2020, TODAY improved its demo lead over GMA by 72% (+131,000 vs. +76,000 prior year) and CBS by 14% (+415,000 vs. +365,000 prior year)
- TODAY’s A25-54 average increased by +114,000 viewers (+14%) month-over-month, while its lead over GMA improved nine-fold (+131,000 vs. +14,000 in July) and advantage over CBS grew 33% (+415,000 vs. +313,000 in July)
TODAY ranked #1 in A18-49 for the 77th consecutive month
- TODAY averaged 642,000 A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +121,000 (+23%) and CBS by +297,000 (+86%)
- This was TODAY’s best monthly A18-49 lead over ABC in five months (since March 2021) and biggest advantage over CBS in nine months (since November 2020)
- Compared to August 2020, TODAY widened its A18-49 lead over GMA by 19% (+121,000 vs. +102,000 prior year) and CBS by 5% (+297,000 vs. +282,000 prior year)
- Month-over-month, TODAY posted the biggest A18-49 increase (+88,000), more than quadrupled its lead over GMA (+121,000 vs. +26,000 in July) and improved its advantage over CBS by 39% (+297,000 vs. +214,000 in July)
TODAY Digital has had an incredibly strong 2021, averaging 54 million monthly visitors, up +13% vs. January – July 2020.
- The brand has seen more than 50M unique visitors for eight of the last nine months and reached an audience that’s more than 3x larger than GMA Digital from January to July 2021
WEEK OF 8/23/2021
TODAY averaged 898,000 A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +103,000 (+13%) and CBS This Morning by +365,000 (+69%)
- TODAY has ranked #1 among A25-54 viewers for 308 of the last 313 weeks
- TODAY’s demo lead over GMA widened by 36% compared to the same week last season (+103,000 vs. +76,000 prior year)
- TODAY increased its A25-54 delivery by +36,000 viewers (+4%) week-over-week, more than GMA and CBS’ gains combined. TODAY also improved its demo lead over GMA by 49% (+103,000 vs. +69,000 prior week) and CBS by 5% (+365,000 vs. +349,000 prior week)
TODAY averaged 626,000 A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +91,000 (+17%) and CBS by +270,000 (+76%)
- TODAY was the only morning show to increase its A18-49 delivery week-over-week (+41,000) as it improved its advantages over GMA by 82% (+91,000 vs. +50,000 prior week) and CBS by 21% (+270,000 vs. +223,000 prior week)
TODAY averaged 3.149 million total viewers, +665,000 (+27%) more than CBS This Morning
- TODAY ranked #1 in total viewers on Tuesday (+29,000) and Friday (+142,000)
- Compared to the same week last season, TODAY narrowed the total viewer gap vs. GMA by 23% (-82,000 vs. -107,000 prior year)
- TODAY saw the biggest growth of total viewers week-over-week (+73,000), closed the gap vs. GMA by 35% (-82,000 vs. -126,000 prior week) and widened its advantage over CBS by +25% (+665,000 vs. +530,000 prior week)
TODAY Digital reached 11.3 million unique visitors last week, growing week over and week and saw 31 million video views across on and off net platforms, growing year over year.
- TODAY reached 11.3M unique visitors last (3 % WoW)
- TODAY saw 31M video views across on and off net platforms (13 % YoY)
- TODAY All Day delivered 90K hours viewed and 1.0M video view (7 % WoW)
- TODAY podcasts drove 173K downloads (up 19 % vs. 13-week avg.)
- TODAY newsletters garnered 198K visits
- These newsletters had an average click-thru rate of 12 % and an open rate of 23 %
2020-21 SEASON-TO-DATE (9/21/2020-8/29/2021)
TODAY has been #1 in A25-54 at this point of the season for six consecutive years and A18-49 for 28 straight years
