‘TODAY’ WINS ACROSS THE BOARD FRIDAY

TODAY Topped GMA in Total Viewers and All Demos Friday, Its Best Single-Day, Non-Olympic Win in More Than 5 Months

TODAY Once Again Won the Week in the Key Demo A25-54

TODAY Has Been the No. 1 Morning Show in the Key Demo for More Than 1 Year

TODAY Has Cut the Total Viewer Gap with GMA by a Giant 86% Versus a Year Ago

TODAY Is Up In the Key Demo While GMA is Down Double Digits Versus Last Year

NEW YORK – September 13, 2016 – NBC News’ TODAY won outright last Friday, beating ABC’s “Good Morning America” in total viewers and all demos and posting its best single-day, non-Olympic deliveries since March 22, 2016.  For the week, TODAY was once again the number-one morning show in the key A25-54 demo.  TODAY has now won the key demo more than for 12 consecutive months, 53 out of the last 54 weeks.

TODAY continues to shrink the total viewer gap with GMA with just 68,000 viewers between the shows for the week. TODAY won the month of August outright in total viewers and the key demo, and it continues as the number-one morning show in both A25-54 and A18-49 for the season.

For the week of September 5, TODAY topped GMA by a giant 287,000 in A25-54 and by 241,000 in A18-49.  The total viewer gap between TODAY and GMA is 86% closer (-68,000 versus -479,000 at this time last year).  GMA is down double digits in both total viewers (-11%) and A25-54 (-14%) while TODAY is up in in the key demo versus a year ago.

*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:

TODAY averaged 1.764 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +287,000 (+19%) and CBS This Morning by +760,000 (+76%)

•          TODAY has ranked #1 among A25-54 viewers for 37 consecutive weeks and 53 of the last 54 weeks
•          TODAY posted its biggest non-Olympics A25-54 lead over CBS in five months (since the week of 4/4/2016)
•          TODAY delivered a 1.47 A25-54 rating, +0.24 points ahead of GMA and +0.63 points more than CBS

TODAY averaged 1.317 million A18-49 viewers, +241,000 (+22%) more than GMA and +601,000 (+84%) higher than CBS

•          Excluding the Rio Olympics, TODAY posted its biggest A18-49 audience since the week of 5/23/2016 and widest lead over CBS since the week of 2/22/2016
•          TODAY’s 1.03 A18-49 rating led GMA by +0.19 points and CBS by +0.47 points

TODAY averaged 4.408 million total viewers,  +1.121 million (+34%) higher than CBS

•          TODAY had its best non-Olympics delivery since the week of 6/13/2016 and margin over CBS since the week of 3/21/2016
•          TODAY trailed GMA by just -68,000 total viewers for the week

On Friday morning, TODAY finished #1 across the board in total viewers (+276,000), A25-54 viewers (+423,000), and A18-49 viewers (+453,000)

•          Excluding the Rio Olympics, these were TODAY’s best single-day deliveries in total and A25-54 viewers since March 22, 2016

Versus the same week last season, TODAY:

•          Was up +2% (+31,000) among A25-54 viewers and improved its lead over GMA by 282,000 viewers (vs. a +5,000 lead a year ago)
•          Saw an 86% narrower total viewer margin vs. GMA (-68,000 last week vs. a -479,000 loss a year ago)
•          Improved its A18-49 lead over GMA by 52% (+241,000 last week vs. +159,000 last year)

Week-to-week, TODAY was the only morning news program to post across-the-board gains in total viewers (+2%, or +84,000), A25-54 viewers (+1%, or +23,000), and A18-49 viewers (+3%, or +35,000)

•          TODAY cut the total viewer gap with GMA by more than half (by 58%: -68,000 vs. -160,000 during the previous week)
•          TODAY improved its A25-54 lead over GMA by 8% and over CBS by 9% week-to-week

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

•          TODAY averages 1.785 million A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +12% (+197,000) and CBS by +71% (+739,000).  TODAY’s A25-54 advantage over GMA represents a 294,000 viewer turnaround from a -97,000 deficit at this point last season.
•          In A18-49, TODAY averages 1.339 million and tops GMA by +18% (+204,000) and CBS by +80% (+593,000).  TODAY’s A18-49 lead over GMA is up four-fold versus last season (+204,000 vs. a +45,000 lead a year ago).
•          Among total viewers, the gap between TODAY and GMA is 73% closer than last season (-148,000 season-to-date versus a -540,000 deficit at this time last season).

RATINGS DATA:

TODAY DIGITAL HIGHLIGHTS:

For 31 consecutive months, TODAY.com has reached more mobile consumers than GMA on Yahoo for exclusive interviews and the latest lifestyle, parenting and entertainment news, according to recent data from comScore.  Today.com has gone from parity in mobile unique visitors in September 2013 to over 2.5x GMA on Yahoo’s mobile visitor number in July 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, Billy Bush, 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