NBC NIGHTLY NEWS Tops Total Viewers & Key Demos for 2016's Q1

NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT" ranked as the #1 evening newscast in total viewers and all categories for the 1st quarter of 2016, winning its third straight quarter across-the-board. Nightly also claimed the top spot for the week of March 21-25, 2016, winning every day in a week that saw Lester Holt anchoring from Havana, Brussels and New York City.

The NBC broadcast is #1 in total viewers for 33 of the last 34 quarters and 71 of the last 77 quarters. Nightly also extended its winning streak in the key A25-54 demo, winning its third straight quarter and 29th of the last 32 quarters. In that demo, Nightly more than doubled its advantage over ABC versus the 1st quarter of 2015 (+194%). This marks the third consecutive quarter that Nightly improved its advantage over ABC in A25-54.

"NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt" was also #1 across-the-board for the week of March 21-25, 2016. In a week of President Obama's historic visit to Cuba and terror attacks in Brussels, Nightly averaged 8.73 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +557,000 (+7%) and CBS by +1.67 million (+24%). Nightly delivered its widest margin over ABC in 13 weeks (since December 21, 2015) and posted the largest week-to-week increase in total viewers among the evening newscasts (+4%). On Tuesday, as news unfolded following the attacks in Belgium, more viewers turned to NBC NIGHTLY NEWS than any other newscast - delivering a 461,000 total viewer gap over ABC and 1.653 million total viewers over CBS.

Nightly has been #1 in total viewers for 7 consecutive weeks and 37 of the 40 weeks since Holt was named anchor. The NBC broadcast averaged 2.1 million A25-54 viewers and has won that demo for 35 consecutive weeks, widening its lead over ABC for the third straight week.

NOTE: Nightly is based on a 4-day average (Mon-Thu) while ABC is based on a 5-day average (Mon-Fri) and CBS is based on a 3-day average (Mon-Wed).

Weekly Highlights:

Nightly averaged 8.73 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +557,000 total viewers and CBS by +1.67 million.
Nightly posted its widest total viewer advantage over ABC in 13 weeks (since December 21, 2015).
Nightly averaged 2.1 million A25-54 viewers, +276,000 (+15%) higher than ABC and +455,000 (+28%) more than CBS.
Nightly averaged 1.5 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +220,000 (+17%) and CBS by +355,000 (+31%).
The NBC broadcast is #1 in A18-49 viewers for 35 consecutive weeks, with Nightly's largest A18-49 advantage over ABC since the week of January 25, 2016.

Q1 Highlights:

Nightly won its 3rd straight quarter, it's 33rd of the last 34 quarters and 71st of the last 77 quarters. It averaged 9.208 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +165,000 and CBS by +1.491 million.
Nightly averaged 2.274 A25-54 viewers, +209,000 higher than ABC and +431,000 more than CBS.
Nightly averaged 1.652 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +186,000 and CBS by +385,000.
Compared to 1Q 2015, Nightly improved its A25-54 gap over BC by 194%.

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