‘TODAY’ WINS DECEMBER IN TOTAL VIEWERS & DEMO

TODAY Wins First Non-Olympic Month In More Than 4 Years

TODAY Notches 4th Outright Weekly Win in 7 Weeks, 8th Weekly Win this Year

TODAY Has Been #1 in the Key Demo for 52 Straight Weeks, a First in 4 Years

TODAY Wins 5th Straight Quarter in the Key Demo

TODAY Wins Its 25th Straight Year in A18-49

TODAY Is the Only Show Up in the Key Demo While GMA and CBS Are Both Down Versus a Year Ago

Season-to-Date, TODAY Is Posting Its Biggest Demo Win Over GMA and Tightest Total Viewer Gap in 5 Years

NEW YORK – December 28, 2016 – NBC News’ TODAY was the number-one morning show in total viewers and all demos for the month of December, marking its first non-Olympic monthly win in more than four years (since June 2012). TODAY also won last week topping ABC’s “Good Morning America” across the board.  TODAY has won four of the last seven weeks outright, and eight weeks total this year including the week of the presidential election.  Additionally, TODAY has won the key demo A25-54 for 52 straight weeks for the first time in four years. TODAY also won the fourth quarter in the key demo, its fifth straight quarterly win. TODAY has been the number-one morning show in A18-49 for 25 straight years. Season-to-date, TODAY is posting its largest A25-54 and A18-49 advantages over GMA and its closest total viewer margin in five years.  TODAY is the only morning show up in the key demo while GMA and CBS are both down versus a year ago. TODAY is also up in total viewers and GMA is down.

*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 DECEMBER 12

TODAY averaged 4.770 million total viewers, leading Good Morning America by +127,000 (+3%) and CBS This Morning by +1.117 million (+31%)

• TODAY ranked #1 in total viewers for the 2nd straight week, its first back-to-back, non-Olympics wins since June 2012. 
• This was also TODAY’s 4th first-place ranking in total viewers over the last 7 weeks
• TODAY led CBS by at least one million viewers for the 2nd consecutive week
• TODAY posted the biggest total viewer growth vs. the same week last season (+362,000, or +8%), which helped secure a 649,000 viewer turnaround in its advantage over GMA (+127,000 vs. a -522,000 loss last year)

TODAY averaged 1.741 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming GMA by +216,000 (+14%) and CBS by +694,000 (+66%)

• TODAY has ranked #1 among A25-54 viewers for 52 consecutive weeks and 68 of the last 69 weeks
  • TODAY has won 52 straight weeks in A25-54 for the first time in over four years
• Versus the same week last season, TODAY was the only morning newscast up in A25-54 (53,000, or +3%) while posting a 299,000 viewer turnaround in its demo advantage over GMA (+216,000 vs. a -83,000 loss last year)
• TODAY has now won 136 consecutive broadcasts in A25-54, dating back to June 10, 2016
• TODAY delivered a 1.45 A25-54 rating, +0.18 points ahead of GMA and +0.58 points more than CBS

TODAY averaged 1.294 million A18-49 viewers, +231,000 (+22%) more than GMA and +522,000 (+68%) higher than CBS

• Compared to the same week last season, TODAY’s A18-49 lead over GMA improved by 600% (+231,000 vs. +33,000 last year)
• TODAY’s 1.01 A18-49 rating led GMA by +0.18 points and CBS by +0.41 points

MONTH OF DECEMBER 2016

TODAY ranked #1 in total viewers during a non-Olympics month for the first time since June 2012

• TODAY averaged 4.791 million total viewers, leading GMA by +98,000 (+2%) and CBS by 1.025 million (+27%)
• Versus Dec’15, TODAY was up +121,000 (+3%) in total viewers and posted a 400,000 viewer turnaround in its advantage over GMA (+98,000 vs. a -302,000 loss last year)

TODAY ranked #1 in A25-54 for the 16th consecutive month and 17 of the last 18 months

• TODAY averaged 1.812 million A25-54 viewers, +271,000 (18%) more than GMA and +692,000 (+62%) better than CBS
• TODAY had its biggest A25-54 December advantage over GMA in five years
• TODAY more than doubled its A25-54 advantage over GMA versus last year (+271,000 vs. +122,000 in Dec’15)

TODAY ranked #1 in A18-49 for the 21st consecutive month

• TODAY averaged 1.366 million A18-49 viewers, topping GMA by +274,000 (+25%) and CBS by +571,000 (72%)
• Excluding Olympics months, TODAY posted its biggest monthly A18-49 win over GMA since March 2012
• Versus December 2015, TODAY gained +25,000 (+2%) A18-49 viewers and widened its lead over GMA by 62% (+274,000 vs. +169,000 last year)

4Q/SEASON-TO-DATE

TODAY won its 5th consecutive quarter among A25-54 viewers

• TODAY averaged 1.785 million A25-54 viewers, leading GMA by +254,000 (+17%) and CBS by +670,000 (+60%)
• TODAY had its biggest 4Q demo win over GMA since 2011
• TODAY more than doubled its advantage over GMA YoY (+254,000 vs. +115,000 in 4Q’15)

TODAY has won 16 straight quarters and 88 of the last 89 quarters among A18-49 viewers

• TODAY averaged 1.344 million A18-49 viewers, +243,000 (+22%) over GMA and +550,000 (+69%) over CBS
• TODAY improved its advantage over GMA by 19% YoY (+243,000 vs. +205,000 in 4Q’15)

TODAY averaged 4.573 million total viewers, +889,000 (+24%) ahead of CBS

• TODAY’s viewer gap vs. GMA was reduced by 75% (-79,000 vs. -316,000 in 4Q’15)

BROADCAST YEAR 2016

TODAY ranked #1 in A25-54 for the first time since 2012

• TODAY averaged 1.782 million viewers, +233,000 (+15%) more than GMA and +709,000 (+66%) ahead of CBS
• TODAY was up +1% (+18,000) vs. 2015
• Reversal of -19,000 loss in 2015 and widest yearly advantage over GMA since 2011

TODAY ranked #1 in A18-49 for the 25th consecutive year

• TODAY averaged 1.336 million A18-49 viewers, +215,000 (+19%) over GMA and +568,000 (+74%) above CBS
• TODAY gained +2,000 A18-49 viewers vs. 2015 and more than doubled its lead over GMA (+215,000 vs. +101,000 last year)
• This was TODAY’s biggest A18-49 advantage over GMA since 2011

TODAY averaged 4.572 million total viewers, leading CBS by +940,000 (+26%)

• TODAY reduced the total viewer gap vs. GMA by 80% (-90,000 vs. -448,000 in 2015)
• TODAY had its closest total viewer margin to GMA in four years

TODAY DIGITAL HIGHLIGHTS:

TODAY reached more consumers than GMA on Yahoo with over 31.5 million unique visitors turning to TODAY.com in November for exclusive interviews and the latest lifestyle, parenting and entertainment news, according to recent data from comScore. For 35 consecutive months (44 out of the last 45), Today.com has reached more mobile consumers than GMA on Yahoo.  Today.com has gone from parity in mobile unique visitors in September 2013 to 2.9x GMA on Yahoo’s mobile visitor number in November 2016.

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For more information contact:

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

p: 212-664-6205