'TODAY' Is The #1 Morning Program For 750 Weeks

NBC News' "Today" continues as the dominant morning news program topping competition across the board.  Last week's win marks "Today's" 750th consecutive week in first place. Below are the highlights for the week ending April 24.  

Highlights:
TODAY averaged 5.374 million total viewers, a +21% (+941,000) advantage over GMA and +119% (+2,925,000) over Early Show.

- TODAY has now won 750 consecutive weeks in both homes and total viewers.
- In rating A25-54, TODAY led GMA by +43% (+6 tenths) and Early Show by +122% (+1.1 ratings points).
- In rating A18-49, TODAY outperformed GMA by +60% (+6 tenths) and Early Show by +167% (+1 full ratings point).
- Week-to-week, TODAY increased its deliveries by +5% in homes, +1% (or +50,000) in total viewers, and +1% in A25-54 (000).
- TODAY’s homes and total viewer advantages over GMA also increased from the prior week.
- TODAY posted gains among female viewers year-to-year, growing +5% in rating W18-49 and +4% in rating W25-54.
- TODAY increased the gap over GMA versus the same week last season in homes, rating W/A18-49 and rating W/A25-54.
- Season-to-date, TODAY is the only morning news program to post any demo increase (up +4% in rating W25-54) and tops second-place GMA by +28% (+1,223,000) in total viewers and +40% (+735,000) in A25-54 (000).
- TODAY has widened its advantages over both GMA and Early Show this season in homes, total viewers, rating W/A18-49, and rating W/A25-54 compared to the same period last season.

TODAY II (9 a.m. hour) & TODAY III (10 a.m. hour) Highlights:
-  TODAY II topped CBS Early Show in homes (+33%), total viewers (+25% or +621,000), rating W/M/A18-49 (+29%/+25%/+17%) and rating W25-54 (+9%).
-  TODAY II beat The View in rating M18-49 (+25%) and rating M25-54 (+20%). 
-  TODAY II posted gains in homes (+4%) and total viewers (+2%, or +64,000) week-to-week.
-  Compared to the same week last season, TODAY II increased +25% in rating M18-49.
-  Season-to-date, TODAY II is up in homes (+4%), total viewers (+2% or +78,000), rating M/A18-49 (+20%/+13%), and rating W25-54 (+7%).
-  TODAY III averaged 1.719 million total viewers and a 0.5 A25-54 rating.
-  TODAY III increased delivery in total viewers (+2%, or +26,000), rating M18-49 (+50%), and rating M25-54 (+33%) versus the prior week.
-  Compared to the same week last season, TODAY III was up +50% in rating M18-49 and +33% in rating M25-54.
- Season-to-date, TODAY III is up in homes (+7%) and total viewers (+6%, or +107,000) while also increasing +17% in rating A25-54.

On its digital platforms, "Today" continued its strong performance during the week ending April 24, 2010, with more than 10.1 million online streams.  TODAYshow.com's stories, blog, message boards and live votes were also popular with users.

Jim Bell is the executive producer of "Today" (Monday - Friday, 7-11 a.m.).

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