MEET THE PRESS Wins 5/9 Ratings

According to Nielsen Media Research data, "Meet the Press" was top-rated Sunday morning public affairs program for the week ending May 9. The NBC broadcast attracted 3.084 million total viewers, +21% more (+535,000) than second place CBS' 2.549 million total viewers, a 52% advantage (+1,060,000) over ABC's 2.024 million total viewers, and a +179% (1,979,000) lead over FOX's 1.105 million total viewers. "Meet the Press" has now placed first in total viewers for 441 of the past 446 weeks (when everyone is at full coverage).  The program delivered an additional 1,018,000 viewers with rebroadcasts -- 338,000 viewers on the network and 680,000 viewers on MSNBC.

In Washington D.C., "Meet the Press" continues to beat the competition combined with 123,000 viewers (4.8/15 HH) -- a +846% advantage over ABC's 13,000 (0.5/2 HH), a +515% lead over CBS's 20,000 (0.7/2 HH), and +232% more than FOX's 37,000 viewers (1.3/4). 

In homes nationally, the NBC broadcast topped the competition with a 2.2 rating and 7 share. CBS came in second with a 1.8/6, ABC in third with a 1.5/5 and FOX was last with 0.8/2.  "Meet the Press" has now placed first in households for 539 of the past 542 weeks (when everyone is at full coverage).

Among adults 25-54, the NBC Sunday morning show came in first with a 0.9 rating (1,064,000 viewers), CBS was second with 0.6 (752,000 viewers), ABC placed third with 0.5 rating (681,000 viewers) and FOX came in last with a 0.4 (454,000 viewers). In rating A25-54, "Meet the Press" topped "Face The Nation" by +50% (+3 tenths), "This Week" by +80% (+4 tenths) and FOX News Sunday by +125% (+5 tenths).

Week-to-week, "Meet the Press" increased its deliveries in rating M18-49 (+17%) and rating M25-54 (+11%). Compared to the same telecast last season, NBC grew in total viewers (+4%, or +113,000), rating M/A18-49 (+40%/+20%), and rating M/A25-54 (+11%/+13%). Versus its 2Q’10 to date average, "Meet the Press" was up in rating M/A18-49 (+17%/+20%), and rating M/A25-54 (+11%/+13%). Versus its season-to-date average, the program grew in rating M18-49 (+17%) and rating M/A25-54 (+25%/+13%).

Season-to-date, "Meet the Press" leads second-place "Face The Nation" by +18% in total viewers and +17% in A25-54 (000).

Year-to-date, "Meet the Press" has widened its advantage over "This Week" in total viewers (from 22% up to 34%), rating W/M/A18-49 and rating M25-54 (from +33% up to +50% in each demo), and rating A25-54 (from +22% up to +50%).

Last week's guest was Attorney General Eric Holder and the roundtable featured The New York Times' David Brooks; The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne; BBC World News America's Katty Kay; and Author Wes Moore.

On its digital platforms, "Meet the Press" generated more than 210,000 online video streams from May 9 through May 13.  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.

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