‘TODAY’ & ‘Nightly’ Are #1 Across the Board & Dominating ABC and CBS with Largest Summer Olympics Advantages since 2016
Over 50% of All Morning & Evening News A25-54 Demo Viewers Turned to NBC News on Tuesday – Best Olympics Performance in 12 Years
NBCNews.com Has Best Month in Over Three Years, With Sports Section Marking Record Week Up +200%
‘TODAY’ Reaches Best Month Ever on TikTok, Surpassing All Competitors
August 2, 2024 — TODAY and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt are #1 in total viewers and the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos during the first week of the 2024 Paris Olympics, beginning Friday, July 26 through Wednesday, July 31.
According to Nielsen Media Research, TODAY averaged 3.1 million total viewers, 710,000 A25-54 viewers, and 486,000 A18-49 viewers; Nightly News averaged 8 million total viewers, 1.6 million A25-54 viewers, and 1.3 million A18-49 viewers. TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb and Nightly’s Lester Holt anchored their respective broadcasts from the 2024 Paris Olympics, beginning Friday, July 26, as coverage kicked off.
Broadcast Highlights include:
- TODAY increased total viewership by +24% in total viewers and +31% in A25-54 vs. the prior 4 weeks.
- Nightly News has been the #1 most-watched news program in total viewers in all of TV for five consecutive evenings, starting Friday, July 26. Nightly News has topped ABC and CBS for six consecutive evenings among A25-54 viewers.
- Nightly News grew its weekday viewership by +39% and doubled A25-54 viewership vs. the previous 4 weeks.
- TODAY and Nightly News are delivering their largest advantages over ABC during the Summer Olympics since Rio 2016 in both total viewers and the key demo.
- On Tuesday, July 30, over 50% of all morning and evening broadcast news viewers in the key A25-54 demo watched TODAY and NBC Nightly News, respectively, marking NBC News’ best Olympics performance since the 2012 London Olympics. Nightly News averaged 7.9 million total viewers and 1.4 million A25-54 viewers, while TODAY averaged 3.3 million total viewers and 773,000 A25-54 viewers on Tuesday.
- On Tuesday, July 30, both TODAY and Nightly News topped ABC and CBS combined in the key A25-54 demo during the morning and evening programs.
- Sunday’s Nightly News (7/28) was the #1 television show of the week in total viewers and the key A25-54 demo, excluding specials, sports & syndication, with 10.5 million total viewers and 2.3 million A25-54 viewers. The broadcast marked Nightly’s largest audience in over 6 years (since 2/8/2018).
- Nightly News’ viewership is up across the board vs. 2020 Tokyo Olympics, +12% in total viewers and +5% among A25-54.
NBCNews.com had its strongest month in over three years and a top 10 month on record for the site, reaching 123 million unique visitors in July.
- NBCNews.com’s new, dedicated sports section drove record levels of unique visitors this week, up +200% versus the previous weekly record.
- NBCNews.com saw increases of double and triple digits across all metrics this week versus the 2021 Summer Olympics.
- NBC News Digital reached its strongest monthly levels of video starts on record with 100 million. Plus, NBC News had its best month this year on both TikTok and YouTube.
TODAY Digital’s viewership has surged from the 2024 Paris Olympics, reaching its best month ever on TikTok and top two month on record for Instagram.
- July marked TODAY’s best month ever on TikTok with 140 million views, surpassing all key competitors, including CBS Mornings (97M), GMA (66M) and People (59M). Views on Olympics content are up +200% year-over-year.
- On Instagram, TODAY also hit 65 million video views on Paris Olympics content so far, up nearly 1000% year-over-year. Overall, July is a top two month on record for TODAY on Instagram.
- For the opening weekend of the 2024 Paris Olympics, TODAY.com marked its strongest weekend this year for daily unique visitors and page views.
Source: Nielsen Media Research, Live+Same Day, 7/26-7/31/2024, inclusive of all titles. Adobe Analytics & Partner Dashboards.
For more information, contact:
Dominique Donahue
Claudia Meyer-Samargia
