‘TODAY’ POSTS CLOSEST TOTAL VIEWER GAP W/ GMA IN 2 YEARS, WINS 24th WEEK IN DEMO

TODAY Posted Its Closest Total Viewer Margin with GMA in 2 Years, Since Sochi Olympics

TODAY Won in Total Viewers for 2 Days Straight Last Week

TODAY Has Been the #1 Morning Show in the Key Demo 24 Out of the Last 25 Weeks

TODAY Has Cut the Total Viewer Gap with GMA By a Giant 87% Year Over Year

GMA Is the Only Morning Show Down Double Digits In Both the Key Demo and Total Viewers This Season, Year Over Year and Vs. the Same Week Last Year

Season to Date, TODAY Is the #1 Morning Show in Both A25-54 and A18-49

NEW YORK – February 25, 2016 – TODAY was the number-one morning show again last week in the key demo A25-54, and posted its narrowest total viewer margin with GMA in two years (since its Sochi Olympics win).  TODAY won outright in total viewers and the key demo for two days straight last week (Tuesday and Wednesday).  TODAY has now won 24 out of the last 25 weeks in the key demo, and has been within just 200k total viewers of GMA for five of the last six weeks.  TODAY continues as the number-one morning show in both A25-54 and A18-49 for the season.

For the week of February 15, TODAY topped GMA by a whopping 236k in A25-54 and by 223k in A18-49. TODAY has won every day of the 2016 calendar year in the demo. TODAY closed the total viewer margin with GMA to just 44k for the week.

Versus the same week last year, TODAY radically cut its total viewer gap with GMA by 87% (291k). GMA is the only morning show down double digits, suffering a 17% loss in the key demo and a 10% loss in total viewers this season, year over year.  GMA is also down 13% in the key demo and 20% in total viewers versus the same week last year.

*Please note: As of 12/28/15, Nielsen national ratings are based on an expanded sample known as “NPX,” which effectively doubles the size of the Nielsen panel through a combination of additional meters and HHs. While NPX is now the official currency of record, all data pre-12/28/15 remains based on the old sample — so year-to-year and other comparisons are versus pre-NPX data.

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS: 

WEEK OF FEBRUARY 15

TODAY averaged 4.871 million total viewers, +1.015 million (+26%) ahead of CBS This Morning

• TODAY trailed GMA by -44,000 viewers, its narrowest total viewer margin since the Sochi Olympics (week of 2/17/2014)
• In 5 of the last 6 weeks, TODAY’s total viewer margin vs. GMA has finished below 200,000

TODAY was #1 with 1.907 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +236,000 (+14%) and CBS by +761,000 (+66%)

• TODAY has been #1 among A25-54 viewers for 8 consecutive weeks and 24 of the last 25 weeks, the program’s best showing since 2012
• TODAY posted its widest demo margin over GMA in five weeks (since the week of 1/11/2016)
• TODAY delivered a 1.61 A25-54 rating, leading GMA by +0.20 points and CBS by +0.65 points

TODAY averaged 1.440 million A18-49 viewers, +223,000 (+18%) higher than GMA and +621,000 (+76%) more than CBS

• TODAY matched its 2nd highest A18-49 gap of 1Q’16 vs. GMA
• TODAY delivered a 1.14 A18-49 rating, +0.18 points more than GMA and +0.49 points ahead of CBS

GMA is the only morning show down double digits in both the key demo and total viewers year over year for the season and versus the same week last year.

• GMA is down -17% in A25-54 and -10% in total viewers for the season
• GMA is down -20% in A25-54 and -13% in total viewers versus the same week last year

Versus the same week last season:

• TODAY’s total viewer margin vs. GMA was 87% closer (-44,000 last week vs. -335,000 a year ago)
• TODAY posted a 284,000 viewer turnaround in its A25-54 margin (+236,000 win over GMA last week vs. a -48,000 loss a year ago)
• TODAY more than tripled its A18-49 lead over GMA (+223,000 last week vs. +63,000 a year ago)

Season-to-date, TODAY is the #1 morning news show among A25-54 and A18-49 viewers

• ·         TODAY averages 1.837 million A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +8% (+134,000) and CBS by +72% (+766,000).  TODAY’s A25-54 advantage over GMA represents a 279,000 viewer turnaround from a -145,000 deficit at this point last season.
• ·         In A18-49, TODAY averages 1.389 million and tops GMA by +16% (+195,000) and CBS by +82% (+625,000).  TODAY’s A18-49 lead versus GMA is a 173,000 viewer improvement from last season’s +22,000 lead.
• ·        Among total viewers, the gap between TODAY and GMA is 54% narrower vs. last season (-269,000 season-to-date versus a -586,000 deficit at this time last season).

Week-to-week:

• TODAY improved its advantages vs. CBS in total viewers (by 40%), A25-54 viewers (by 14%) and A18-49 viewers (by 8%)
• TODAY also posted bigger leads over GMA in A25-54 viewers (by 113%) and A18-49 viewers (by 37%) while closing the total viewer gap by 81% (-44,000 vs. -230,000 the prior week)

TODAY was the only morning news program to post a total viewer increase over its 1Q’16 average (+15,000)

RATINGS DATA:

TODAY.COM HIGHLIGHTS:

For the 19th straight month, Today.com reached more consumers than GMA on Yahoo.  Over 42.4 million unique visitors turned to Today.com in January for exclusive interviews and the latest lifestyle, parenting and entertainment news, according to recent data from comScore.  For 25 consecutive months (34 out of the last 35), Today.com has reached more mobile consumers than GMA on Yahoo.

Additionally, Today.com’s mobile unique visitors have grown +76% over the last 12 months while GMA on Yahoo has grown +29% for the same period. As such, Today.com has gone from parity in mobile unique visitors in September 2013 to over 3.7x GMA on Yahoo’s mobile visitor number in January 2016.

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NBC’s TODAY is the news program that informs, entertains, inspires and sets the agenda each morning for Americans. Airing live from 7 am to 11 am ET, TODAY reaches more than 5 million people every day through its broadcast, and millions more through TODAY.com, the TODAY app, and social media platforms. Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Natalie Morales, Willie Geist, Tamron Hall, Carson Daly, Hoda Kotb, and Kathie Lee Gifford are the anchors and hosts, Noah Oppenheim is the SVP and Executive in Charge, and Don Nash is the executive producer.

For more information contact:

Megan Kopf Stackhouse
NBC News
e: megan.kopf@nbcuni.com

p: 212-664-6205