Meet the Press tops ratings again

NEW YORK, Aug. 9, 2007 — According to national Nielsen Media Research data, "Meet the Press" was the top-rated Sunday morning public affairs program on Sunday, August 5, 2007, placing first in total viewers, homes and in the key demographic adults 25-54. On Sunday, the Russert-moderated program attracted 2.946 million total viewers, an impressive 35 percent advantage (+760,000) over ABC "This Week's" 2.186 million, a more-than-40-percent lead (+849,000) over CBS "Face the Nation's" 2.097 million, and 174 percent more (+1,872,000) than FOX "News Sunday's" 1.074 million. CNN's "Late Edition's" two-hour program averaged 513,000 viewers. The rebroadcasts of "Meet the Press" on MSNBC delivered an additional 515,000 total viewers last Sunday night.

Contrary to published reports earlier this week, "Meet the Press" was No. 1 in the key demographic adults 25-54, while CBS placed second, and ABC was third. The NBC program had 821,000 viewers (0.7) in the key demographic, CBS placed second with 820,000 (0.7), ABC was third with 741,000 (0.6), and FOX had 486,000 (0.4). CNN averaged 110,000 in the key demographic.

In homes nationally, the NBC program outperformed the other Sunday shows, posting a 2.3 rating and a 7 share. ABC had a 1.7/6, CBS was third with a 1.6/5, and FOX was fourth with a 0.9/3.

In Washington, D.C., "Meet the Press" dominated the competition with 92,000 viewers (3.0/9), 74 percent more than second place CBS' 53,000 viewers (1.7/5), a 119 percent advantage over FOX's 42,000 (1.7/5), and a staggering 163 percent lead over ABC's 35,000 (1.1/3).

Last week's guest was Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense. Roundtable guests included Carl Bernstein, author, "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton," David Brody, senior national correspondent, Christian Broadcasting Network; Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential historian; and David Mendell, Chicago Tribune and author, "Obama: From Promise to Power."

Please note: ABC's "This Week" featured a debate with Republican presidential candidates.

On its digital platforms, "Meet the Press" continued its strong performance during the week ending August 4, with over 115,000 online streams. The "Meet the Press" video podcast (available at www.mtp.msnbc.com) remains the top ranked network Sunday Morning program podcast on iTunes.

Tim Russert is the moderator and managing editor of "Meet the Press." Betsy Fischer is the executive producer and Michelle Jaconi and Rebecca Samuels are the producers.