MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD IS #1 MOST-WATCHED SUNDAY SHOW FOR 2016-2017 SEASON

Wins 2016-2017 Season Across the Board for First Time in Five Years

Only Sunday Show to Deliver Across-the-Board Viewer Growth

#1 Most-Watched in Key Demo for Second Straight Season

Launches First-Ever Documentary Film Festival This November for Broadcast’s 70th Anniversary 

SEPT. 26, 2017 – Meet the Press with Chuck Todd (MTP) is the #1 most-watched Sunday show for the 2016-2017 season, winning across the board for the first time in five years.

Three years ago, when Todd became moderator, the broadcast was #3 in both total viewers and the key A25-54 demo. Now, MTP is #1 in both categories, as Todd simultaneously expanded the brand into a 360 presence to include “MTP Daily” on MSNBC and “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast.” This November, “Meet the Press,” the longest-running television show in history, will mark its 70th anniversary and launches its first-ever political documentary film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute.

During the 2016-2017 broadcast season, an average of 3.608 million viewers tuned into the broadcast – the show’s biggest viewership in eight years (since 2008-2009). MTP beat CBS’ Face the Nation, which continues to rate for only 30 minutes of its hour-long program, by +16,000 (+0.5 percent) and ABC’s This Week by +414,000 (+13 percent), its biggest advantage in five years. MTP grew two percent (+84,000) in total viewers compared to last season.

MTP continues its dominance in the all-important key demo, winning the season with an average of 1.081 million A25-54 viewers. It is the only Sunday show to deliver more than one million demo viewers, topping ABC by +22 percent (+195,000) and CBS by +27 percent (+230,000). The network broadcast has now doubled its advantages over both ABC and CBS by +112 percent and +111 percent, respectively, compared to last season. MTP has also grown among A25-54 viewers by +70,000 (seven percent) since last season.

Averaging 800,000 A18-49 viewers for the season, MTP grew its demo viewership by +11 percent (+81 percent) and delivered its biggest lead over CBS in eight seasons (+202,000) and over ABC in six seasons (+22 percent). Compared to last season, MTP grew its advantage over CBS by +92 percent and over ABC by +95 percent. This is the second straight season win for MTP among A18-49 viewers.

For the third quarter of 2017, MTP was also the #1 most-watched Sunday broadcast, winning two of the last three quarters across the board. Averaging 3.172 million viewers for Q3’17, MTP beat ABC by +178,000 (six percent) and CBS by +26,000 (one percent). The network broadcast also topped its competition by double-digits in the key demo with an average of 943,000 viewers: +87,000 (ten percent) more than ABC and +202,000 (+31 percent) more than CBS. This is MTP’s seventh consecutive quarter win in the key demo. Among A18-49 viewers, MTP delivered its biggest Q3 audience in nine years with an average of 689,000 viewers: +99,000 (+17 percent more than ABC and +202,000 (+42 percent) more than CBS.

This past Sunday, Sept. 24, MTP featured exclusive interviews with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as well as White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short. It was the #1 most-watched Sunday show across the board, with 3.385 million total viewers tuning into the broadcast: +343,000 (+11 percent) more than ABC. MTP continued its dominance in the demo most valued by news advertisers, winning its tenth consecutive broadcast among A25-54 viewers. With 1.035 million demo viewers tuning into the program, MTP outperformed ABC by double-digits: +13 percent (+119,000). Compared to the same Sunday last year, MTP delivered across-the-board growth, gaining +11 percent (+338,000) in total viewers, +16 percent (+144,000) in the key A25-54 demo and +22 percent (+141,000) among A18-49 viewers. To note, an additional 1.380 million viewers and 264,000 key demo viewers watched Sunday’s program through rebroadcasts on MSNBC. On the last Sunday of the 2016-2017 season, CBS retitled its broadcast.

Tune in this Sunday, and follow the show on Facebook and on Twitter for the latest.

# # #

2016-2017 Season (Sept. 19, 2016 – Sept. 24, 2017)

HH Total Viewers A25-54 Viewers A18-49 Viewers
MEET THE PRESS 2.52 3,608 1,081 800
FACE THE NATION HALF-HOUR 2.46 3,592 851 598
FACE THE NATION HOUR 2.06 2,977 702 495
THIS WEEK 2.25 3,194 886 621
FOX NEWS SUNDAY 1.06 1,520 471 346

# # #

For more information, contact:

Olivia Petersen
NBC News
o: (202) 885-4159
e: olivia.petersen@nbcuni.com

__

NBC NEWS’ MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD

Meet the Press with Chuck Todd is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on people across the country. Meet the Press reaches more than three million people every Sunday through its broadcasts and millions more through NBCNews.com, OTT platforms and social media. Meet the Press brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with “MTP Daily” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast”. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of Meet the Press; John Reiss is the executive producer.

# # #