NBC News NOW Becomes First U.S.-Based Streaming Network with International Distribution
MSNBC Announces Premium Streaming Hub on Peacock
Ranks as Top Five Podcast Publisher in the US, Marks Top Listener Month on Record
April 20, 2022 – NBCU News Group (NBC News, TODAY, MSNBC and CNBC) saw 142 million unique visitors in March, ranking as the #1 news organization in the US, and beating CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Times and Washington Post. It was NBCU News Group’s fourth consecutive month ranking #1 and 10th month since becoming a public-facing entity in April 2021 as the leading news brand. NBCU News Group was also #1 in total video minutes watched and total video starts in the month of February, holding that #1 spot for ten months in a row (11 months in a row for minutes watched, since becoming a public-facing entity) and delivered more video starts and video minutes in February than any other previous month since becoming a public-facing entity last April 2021.
CNBC Digital was the #2 non-portal brand in Business News for unique visitors for the month of March. CNBC Digital was the #1 brand in Business News video for February with 14 million unique video viewers.
NBCNews.com reached 87 million unique visitors in March and ranked ahead of competitors such as ABC News, CBS News, Fox News and Washington Post. Video views grew by 19% in February versus the prior month’s performance to the highest levels in 10 months.
MSNBC Digital saw increased reach in March, to the strongest month since November 2021 with lifts of 24% versus the prior year. MSNBC Digital text content which includes MSNBC Daily, The Reidout Blog, Maddow Blog and Know Your Value, reached new heights in March in total page views and audience reach. In February, MSNBC video views increased to the highest levels in over a year with over 150 million video views. Video time spent per viewer continued to rank ahead of CNN.com for the 12th month in a row.
TODAY Digital reached 55 million unique visitors in March, surpassing 50 million unique visitors for nine months in a row. With 55 million unique visitors, TODAY ranks as the second largest individual publisher among leading lifestyle and entertainment brands.
NBCU News Group’s streaming services, TODAY All Day and NBC News NOW, had top months, with NBC News NOW seeing nearly 120 million video views and over 40 million hours watched, up 130% versus the prior year. It was NOW’s strongest month in over a year and the streaming platform’s 3rd best month on record.
For coverage of the State of the Union, live streams across NBC News NOW, MSNBC and The Choice from MSNBC contributed more than 7 million starts, breaking records for their strongest performance during any State of the Union or Joint Address on record. Livestreams and VOD saw more than four times as many video starts as the 2021 Joint Address and 2020 State of the Union. Plus, NBC News NOW reached more than 2.4M hours viewed throughout the day. It was one of NOW’s top 15 days on record, up +260% versus an average day. Additionally, CNBC Digital had its most-streamed State of the Union in history, with time spent increasing 23% versus 2021 and 145% versus 2020 and CNBC TV-Everywhere day-of coverage was a top 15 day of all time for live starts, up 65% versus 2021.
TODAY All Day saw its best month on record in March, up versus the prior month and previous record and up over 325% vs. the same month last year. The past seven months have been the lifestyle streaming network’s strongest months to-date after launching in the summer of 2020.
In March, NBC News NOW aired multiple specials surrounding breaking news in Ukraine and the State of the Union. ‘Nightly News’ Special Report: Inside Ukraine with Lester Holt’ aired live, on the ground from Lviv, Ukraine. Plus, NBC News NOW aired special coverage of the State of the Union, beginning with a one-hour pre-show with Hallie Jackson anchoring from Washington, D.C., followed by live coverage of the address and ending with a post-show hosted by Chuck Todd and Kristen Welker, featuring live analysis of the address and the latest from the Texas primary election.
March also marked major new announcements across the NBCU News Group’s streaming operation. NBC News NOW became the first U.S.-based streaming network to have international distribution on television in Europe. NBC News NOW also announced an upcoming original limited series with acclaimed journalist, best-selling author and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin. Finally on NBC News NOW, Meet the Press Reports returned for its fourth season, which is also available on-demand on Peacock.
In March, MSNBC announced that it is expanding its premier programming, specials and documentaries within a new dedicated hub on Peacock, providing select programming to premium subscribers for the first time without a pay-TV subscription. MSNBC hub on Peacock will feature the best of the network’s programming including episodes of Morning Joe, Deadline: White House, The Beat with Ari Melber, The ReidOut, All In with Chris Hayes, and MSNBC’s weekend perspective programming, all streaming on-demand the next day, as well as expanding its current offering of original shows on Peacock.
Additionally in March, CNBC Digital’s live stream had a record quarter in video starts, 35% higher than the previous record. And CNBC Crypto World, a daily series about digital currency markets, surpassed 1.9 million video starts since its launch in late February.
NBCU News Group ranks in the top five of all podcast publishers in the US for March. It was the News Group’s best listener month on record, with listenership up +18% versus March 2021. Plus, the News Group reached more than 50 million podcast downloads for the 7th straight month with more than 63 million global podcast downloads, up +21% versus the prior year.
Making Space with Hoda Kotb returned for its second season in March, part of the NBCU News Group’s largest yearly slate of podcasts yet.
In March, CNBC launched the Closing Bell showcast in conjunction with the debut of Closing Bell: Overtime on CNBC’s Business Day programming.
CNBC and TODAY podcasts had their strongest months on record, while it was the second best month for NBC News. TODAY also continues to see significant year-over-year growth, up +177% versus March 2021.
NBC News’ interactive tool, Plan Your Vote, returned in March ahead of the 2022 midterm elections in November. The tool has seen more than 100K unique visitors and 125K page views since its launch. Plan Your Vote provides a comprehensive, state-by-state guide of information voters need to know about the voting rules where they live and major changes since the 2020 elections, including registration deadlines, mail-in voting, early in-person voting, and more. The tool is available at NBCNews.com/PlanYourVote.
In March, the NBCU News Group launched Best Product Reviews, a destination on Shop TODAY and Select, featuring product reviews from Consumer Reports (CR), the nonprofit research, testing, and consumer advocacy organization. Users can access a selection of product reviews from Consumer Reports on TODAY.com/Shop and NBCNews.com/Select.
NBCU News Group leads all other news brands on younger emerging platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. On TikTok, NBC News and MSNBC are up more than 100% in followers versus the end of 2021. February and March were NBC News’ two strongest months on record for TikTok video views, surpassing 200M each month. On Snapchat, March was the 3rd straight month of growth for NBC News’ Stay Tuned and its best month since April 2021.
*Sources: Comscore Media Metrix® ( (April 2021 – March 2022) & Comscore Video Metrix® (April 2021 – February 2022), U.S. desktop internet population 2+ and mobile internet population 13+ years old, Custom-Defined List, Based on NBCU News entity compared to a custom list of brand competitors that are also in the News/Information Category. Leading Lifestyle & Entertainment brands based on Custom-Defined List that includes top individual publishers within Lifestyle and Entertainment Category. Adobe Analytics & Partner Dashboards, Cross-Platform Global Data, March 2022. Podtrac, Total Mobile and Desktop US Audience and Global Downloads, March 2022. ListenFirst Media, March 2022. Snapchat Analytics Portal, March 2022.
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For more information, contact:
Richard Hudock
NBC News
Richard.Hudock@nbcuni.com
Claudia Meyer-Samargia
NBC News Digital
Claudia.MeyerSamargia@nbcuni.com
