‘TODAY’ IS #1 IN TOTAL VIEWERS AND KEY DEMOS FOR FIRST WEEK SINCE 2012

‘TODAY’ Wins Second Consecutive Quarter in the Key Demo

TODAY Posts Closest Quarterly Total Viewer Gap with GMA in Four Years

Season to Date, TODAY is the #1 Morning Show in Both A25-54 and A18-49, a First in 4 Years

NEW YORK –March 31, 2016 – TODAY was the number-one morning news show in total viewers and the key demos for the week of March 21, the first outright win in both categories in a non- Olympic week since June 2012.

For the week, TODAY topped ABC’s “Good Morning America” by 49,000 total viewers, 180,000 in A25-54, and by 185,000 in A18-49.  More viewers turned to TODAY for the breaking news coverage of the Brussels terrorist attack on Tuesday, March 22, giving TODAY a huge 693,000 total viewer win over GMA for the day. TODAY also beat GMA in total viewers on Monday (+53,000) and Wednesday (+220,000), powering the strong week.

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS – Week of March 21-25:

TODAY averaged 4.716 million total viewers, beating GMA by +49,000 and CBS This Morning by +1.129 million

• This is the first total viewer win for TODAY, excluding Olympics,  since the week of June 18, 2012
• TODAY was #1 in total viewers for 3 days last week (Mon, Tue, Wed) for the first non –Olympic week since the week of June 25, 2012
• During the breaking news of the Brussels terror attack on Tuesday, March 22, TODAY had a +693,000 total viewer win over GMA,  the largest non-Olympic single day total viewer win vs. GMA since March 6, 2012.

TODAY averaged 1.791 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +180,000 (+11%) and CBS This Morning by +727,000 (+68%)

• TODAY has been #1 among A25-54 viewers for 13 consecutive weeks and 29 of the last 30 weeks
• TODAY won 4 mornings in A25-54, increasing its season-to-date total to 113 daily wins out of 126 rated broadcast days

TODAY averaged 1.328 million A18-49 viewers, +185,000 (+16%) more than GMA and +570,000 (+75%) higher than CBS

• Among A18-49 viewers, TODAY has now posted 33 consecutive wins and has been #1 in 39 of the last 41 weeks and 50 of the last 54 weeks
• TODAY hit a four-week high in its A18-49 lead over GMA
• TODAY won 4 mornings and has now secured 121 daily A18-49 wins season-to-date out of 126 rated broadcast days

For the week of 3/21/2016, GMA viewership fell by double-digits YoY across all key measures while TODAY saw YoY growth

• In P2+, TODAY was up +1% (+53,000) with GMA down -14% (-742,000) and CBS up +10% (+311,000)
• In A25-54, TODAY was up +1% (+16,000) with GMA down -17% (-324,000) and CBS up +8% (+79,000)
• In A18-49, TODAY was up +1% (+9,000) with GMA down -13% (-178,000) and CBS up +5% (+34,000)

*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 was also the number-one morning news show for the first quarter of 2016, topping GMA by 154,000 in the key demo A25-54.  This is the second consecutive quarterly win for TODAY in the key demo, the first back-to-back victory since 2012. TODAY also posted its narrowest quarterly total viewer gap with GMA since the third quarter 2012.  TODAY was the number-one morning show in A18-49 for the quarter.

For the quarter, TODAY has radically cut its total viewer gap with GMA by 69% (400,000) versus the first quarter last year.

TODAY HIGHLIGHTS: 1ST QUARTER 2016

TODAY averaged 1.888 million A25-54 for the quarter, outperforming GMA by +154,000 and CBS “This Morning” by +750,000

• This is TODAY’s largest A25-54 quarterly win over GMA since 2Q 2012
• This is TODAY’s first consecutive A25-54 quarterly demo win since 2012

TODAY averaged 4.818 million total viewers for the quarter, outperforming CBS by +1.010 million

• TODAY narrowed the total viewer gap vs. GMA for the fifth consecutive quarter, posting its closest margin to the ABC program since 3Q 2012
• Versus the same quarter last year, the total viewer gap between TODAY and GMA was reduced by 69% (-177,000 in 1Q’16 vs. 577,000 in 1Q’15)

TODAY averaged 1.428 million A18-49 viewers, leading GMA by +162,000 and CBS by +598,000

• TODAY has been #1 in A18-49 for 13 consecutive quarters and 85 of the last 86 quarters (dating back to 4Q 1994)
• Versus 1Q 2015, TODAY improved its advantage over GMA by 141,000 viewers (a 671% improvement)

GMA was down double digits in both the key demo and total viewers for the quarter.

• GMA is down -15% (-313,000) in A25-54 and -10% (-540,000) in total viewers for the quarter

TODAY DIGITAL HIGHLIGHTS:

For the 20th straight month, Today.com reached more consumers than GMA on Yahoo.  Over 35.3 million unique visitors turned to Today.com in February for exclusive interviews and the latest lifestyle, parenting and entertainment news, according to recent data from comScore.  For 26 consecutive months (35 out of the last 36), Today.com has reached more mobile consumers than GMA on Yahoo.

Additionally, Today.com’s mobile unique visitors have grown +42% over the last 12 months while GMA on Yahoo has declined -12% for the same period. As such, Today.com has gone from parity in mobile unique visitors in September 2013 to over 4.3x GMA on Yahoo’s mobile visitor number in February 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.

Lauren Skowronski
VP, Corporate Communications
212-664-2432
Lauren.Skowronski@nbcuni.com