MEET THE PRESS Continues to Widen its Lead Over ABC With Ratings Win 5/16

According to Nielsen Media Research data, "Meet the Press" was top-rated Sunday morning public affairs program for the week ending May 16. The NBC broadcast attracted 2.572 million total viewers, +11% more (+253,000) than second place CBS' 2.319 million total viewers, a 26% advantage (+527,000) over ABC's 2.045 million total viewers, and a +111% (1,351,000) lead over FOX's 1.221 million total viewers. "Meet the Press" has now placed first in total viewers for 442 of the past 447 weeks (when everyone is at full coverage). The program delivered an additional 1,134,000 viewers with rebroadcasts -- 405,000 viewers on the network and 729,000 viewers on MSNBC.

In Washington D.C., "Meet the Press" beat the competition with 83,000 viewers (3.3/11 HH) -- a +361% advantage over ABC's 18,000 (0.7/2 HH), a +102% lead over CBS's 41,000 (1.3/4 HH), and +152% more than FOX's 33,000 viewers (1.0/3).

In homes nationally, the NBC broadcast topped the competition with a 1.9 rating and 6 share. CBS came in second with a 1.6/5, ABC in third with a 1.5/4 and FOX was last with 0.8/2. "Meet the Press" has now placed first in households for 540 of the past 543 weeks (when everyone is at full coverage).

Among adults 25-54, the NBC Sunday morning show came in first with 907,000 viewers, ABC was second with 660,000 viewers, CBS placed third with 650,000 viewers and FOX came in last with a 434,000 viewers. In rating A25-54, "Meet the Press" topped both "Face The Nation" and "This Week" by +40% (+2 tenths) and FOX News Sunday by +133% (+4 tenths).

Compared to the same telecast last season, "Meet the Press" widened its lead over "This Week" in homes, total viewers, rating W/M/A18-49 and rating W/M/A25-54. Versus its 2Q'10 to date average, the NBC program also increased its advantage over both "This Week" and "Face The Nation" in homes, rating W/A18-49, and rating W/A25-54.

Season-to-date, "Meet the Press" leads second-place "Face The Nation" by +18% in total viewers and +18% in A25-54 (000).

Last week's guests were Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The roundtable included Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, Republican Strategist Mike Murphy and Democratic Strategist Bob Shrum.

On its digital platforms, generated more than 182,000 online video streams from May 16 through May 20. The "Meet the Press" video podcast (available at www.mtp.msnbc.com) remains the top ranked network Sunday Morning program podcast on iTunes.

David Gregory is the moderator of "Meet the Press." Betsy Fischer is the executive producer and Rebecca Samuels and Christopher Donovan are the producers.