According to Nielsen Media Research data, a special edition of "Meet the Press" from Afghanistan was the top-rated Sunday morning public affairs program for the week ending Aug. 15. The NBC broadcast was No. 1, attracting 2.734 million total viewers, +13% (+320,000) more than second place CBS' 2.414 million total viewers, a 25% advantage (+551,000) over third place ABC's 2.183 million total viewers, and a +171% (1,727,000) lead over FOX News Sunday's 1.007 million total viewers. "Meet the Press" has now placed first in total viewers for 453 of the past 458 weeks (when everyone is at full coverage). The program delivered an additional 982,000 viewers with rebroadcasts -- 385,000 viewers on the network and 597,000 viewers on MSNBC.
In Washington, D.C., "Meet the Press" continued to beat the competition with 83,000 viewers (3.0/8 HH). The NBC program had +80% more than "Face The Nation's 46,000 viewers (1.5/4 HH), +137% ahead of FOX News Sunday's 35,000 viewers (1.4/4 HH), and +419% more than "This Week's" 16,000 viewers (0.6/2 HH).
In homes nationally, the NBC broadcast topped the competition with a 2.0 rating and 6 share. CBS came in second with a 1.7/5, ABC placed third with 1.6/5 and FOX was last with 0.8/2. "Meet the Press" has now placed first in households for 551 of the past 554 weeks (when everyone is at full coverage).
Among adults 25-54, the NBC Sunday morning program placed first with 885,000 viewers. ABC came in second with 786,000 viewers, CBS was third with 750,000 viewers and FOX News placed last with 308,000 viewers.
Week-to-week, "Meet the Press" posted solid gains in both rating W18-49 (+50%) and rating W25-54 (+60%) and widened its advantages versus the competition in each category. Versus the same telecast last season, the NBC program increased in rating W25-54 (+14%). "Meet" posted gains compared to 3Q'10-to-date levels in total viewers (+7,000), rating W18-49 (+50%), and rating W25-54 (+33%). It also increased its delivery in rating W18-49 by +20% versus its season-to-date average.
Compared to last season, "Meet the Press" has widened its lead over both "Face The Nation" and "This Week" in rating A18-49 and rating W25-54. Season-to-date, NBC now leads second-place "Face The Nation" by +18% in total viewers and +18% in A25-54 (000).
On its digital platforms, "Meet the Press" generated more than 217,000 online video streams from August 15 through August 19. The "Meet the Press" video podcast (available at www.mtp.msnbc.com) remains the top ranked network Sunday Morning program podcast on iTunes.
Last week's guest was General David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. Forces and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
David Gregory is moderator of "Meet the Press." Betsy Fischer is the executive producer and Rebecca Samuels and Chris Donovan are the producers.
