SMGX Strategic Intelligence Insider s Look. Election Night Broadcast Network Evening News Average Live Ratings by Demographic November 6, 2012

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1 SMGX Strategic Intelligence Insider s Look Look Election Night 2012 After months of analysis, countless predictions and agonizing promotion, the people spoke loud and clear on. In the end, people elected NBC and CNN as their networks for election night coverage. Broadcast Networks The night started in earnest with each network s evening news from 6:30- EST. Across both genders, NBC was the clear choice for people to start their election coverage. The NBC NIGHTLY NEWS cruised to a victory among A18-49 viewers, beating second place ABC by 20% and the CBS EVENING NEWS by 65%. NBC held a slimmer lead with W18-49, topping ABC by 11%, but opened up a 35% advantage with M18-49 viewers. The same scenario held true with viewers, among whom NBC held a larger lead with M25-54 (36%) versus W25-54 (14%). Broadcast Network Evening News Average Live Ratings by Demographic A18-49 W M18-49 A25-54 W25-54 ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT CBS EVENING NEWS NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M25-54 Female viewers made it a little closer at 7:00, as ABC s 1.97 W18-49 rating from 7:00-8:00 trailed the 2.09 of NBC by only 6%. Each network separated its 7:00-8:00 reporting from its prime time coverage, and CBS took it one step further, selling the 7:00-7:30 time period separately from 7:30-8:00. There was a difference in the two halves of the program, as CBS CAMPAIGN from 7:30-8:00 outpaced the first half hour by 65% among A18-49 and 60% among A Fox joined in, pulling in weak ratings compared to the other networks. It opened its coverage with a 0.48 A18-49 rating from 7:00-8:00 and only a 0.56 with A Like with the evening news, all networks trailed NBC. Broadcast Network 2012 Election Night Coverage Live Ratings - - EST Net Program Start Time End Time A18-49 W18-49 M18-49 A25-54 W25-54 M25-54 ABC VOTE CBS CAMPAIGN 2012 ELECT 1 7:30PM CBS CAMPAIGN 2012 ELECT 2 7:30PM CBS CBS 7:00-8:00 Average FOX YOU DECIDE 2012 PRE NBC DECISION'12-ELECT 7P Source: Nielsen Media Research, NPower; 11/6/12.

2 It was more of the same in prime time, as NBC maintained its lead over its broadcast network competitors. NBC held a substantial 25% lead over ABC and dominated CBS, eclipsing its 2.36 rating by 78%. Among both men and women and 25-54, NBC consistently delivered a live rating above a Fox s rating picked up significantly from the previous hour, moving from a 0.48 A18-49 rating from 7:00-, to a 1.51 from 8:00-10:00PM, an increase of over 200%. Despite the climb, Fox remained the fourth choice of viewers among the four broadcast networks. Net Program Start Time End Time A18-49 W18-49 M18-49 A25-54 W25-54 M25-54 ABC VOTE :00PM CBS CAMPAIGN 2012 ELECT 3 11:00PM FOX YOU DECIDE :00PM NBC DECISION'12-ELECT PRIME 11:00PM Source: Nielsen Media Research, NPower; 11/6/12. Broadcast Network 2012 Prime Time Election Night Coverage Average Live Ratings by Demographic Audiences grew throughout the night, but for the most part, ratings were fairly consistent throughout the evening. Throughout the night, NBC maintained its status as the number one network; in fact, all networks held their positions all evening. The prime time peak for ABC and CBS was in the final half hour, shortly before it was announced that President Obama won his re-election bid. For NBC, its largest A18-49 audience came an hour earlier when it delivered a 4.66 rating from 9:30-10:00PM EST. (Fox concluded its national coverage at 10:00.) The same half hour trend was similar for all key demographics. Broadcast Network Election Night A18-49 Live Prime Time Ratings by Half Hour :30 8: :30 9: :30 10:30-11 ABC CBS FOX NBC At 11:00, the networks sent coverage back to their affiliates, and national coverage then became scattered throughout late night. Average ratings by network through late night are provided in Attachment #1. Cable News Heading into election night (October 1, 2012 through November 5, 2012), CNN s prime time audience was dwarfed by both Fox News and MSNBC. During that month, CNN s average prime time Live A25-54 average impressions were 288,700, about half of Fox News s audience (569,700) and 25% lower than MSNBC. Proving again, however, that CNN is a place where people go for breaking news, the original cable news network dominated on election night. Its 3.21 A25-54 average prime time (6:00PM-12:00AM EST) Live rating stood tall against the 2.97 for Fox News and the 1.43 for MSNBC. CNN also topped the others with A18-49, holding a 32% advantage over Fox News and topping MSNBC by an impressive 185%. Cable News Election Night Live Ratings by Demographic A18-49 W18-49 M18-49 A25-54 W25-54 M25-54 CNN FOX NEWS M SNBC

3 CNN showed vulnerability with older demos, especially men. While CNN held an 8% lead over Fox News with A25-54, the margin narrowed to 3% with M Fox News, however, held the lead with A35+, posting a 4.81 to CNN s 3.04 (+58%); MSNBC averaged a 1.97 A35+ rating. That lead expanded to a 57% advantage for Fox News over CNN with M35+ (5.14 vs. 3.28), and Fox News had the upper hand with adults and men 50+, leading CNN by 90% and 87%, respectively. Half hour ratings for the cable news networks tell a similar story to those of the broadcast networks in that they build as the night progressed but for the most part are fairly stable throughout. All networks hit their peak A18-49 audience between 10:00 and 12:00AM, with Fox News reaching a 3.37 from10:00-10:30pm, CNN hitting a 5.01 between 11:00-11:30 and MSNBC pulling in a 1.70 from 11:30-midnight. An interesting pattern developed from the Fox News rating trend. While all network ratings declined as the clock approached midnight, a good portion of the Fox News audience checked out at midnight. At 11:00, CNN held a 5.01 A18-49 rating, which fell 18% to a 4.13 at midnight. MSNBC actually picked up additional viewers, with a 1.60 A18-49 rating at 11:00 and a 1.62 at midnight. Fox News, however, with an Obama victory secured, had its A18-49 rating fall 35%, from a 3.36 to a Cable News Election Night A18-49 Live Ratings by Half Hour :30 6: :30 7: :30 8: :30 9: :10:30 10: :30 11:30-12AM 12-12:30 12: :30 1: :30 2:30-3AM CNN Fox News MSNBC At 12:55AM EST, Mitt Romney made his concession speech, a segment of the coverage that both CNN and Fox News identified as its own program thus enabling Nielsen to list it, and its audience, separate from the half hour average. The four minute coverage (12:55AM-12:59AM) registered a 3.89 A18-49 rating on CNN and a 1.27 on Fox News. Among A25-54, CNN outpaced Fox News during the concession speech by 166% (3.68 vs. 1.44). At 1:36AM EST, President Obama delivered his acceptance speech, again captured separately by CNN and Fox News. Whereas a great portion of the CNN late night audience remained to witness the speech, Fox News viewers continued to abandon ship. The 24- minute telecast brought in a 3.38 A18-49 rating for CNN, far outdelivering Fox News (0.81) by 317%. CNN held a similar advantage with A25-54, pulling in a 3.21 versus the 0.89 for Fox News (+261%). Regional Differences Using Rentrak set-top-box data, we are able to quickly recognize differences in viewing patterns for the cable news networks via heat maps. A heat map is a snapshot of regional viewing throughout the United States, identifying areas that a network has a high concentration of viewers (hot area) versus very little viewership (cold area). The darker red the color on the map indicates the higher concentration of viewers whereas the areas that are blue show the low concentration. A different heat map can be created for each network to show differences in their coverage. Overall, MSNBC had more cold areas in the country, which is indicative of the networks third place finish for the night. MSNBC s only hot spots were in Miami, San Jose and the coasts of South and North Carolina. The Northwest was considerably colder than

4 the rest of the country, showing that MSNBC had significantly less viewers in this part of the country. Other cold spots included Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Maine. CNN, which is based in Atlanta, had its greatest concentration of viewers in the Southeast, particularly Atlanta. CNN also had hot spots in San Francisco/San Jose, southwest Wisconsin/northwest Illinois, Miami, Washington DC/Maryland. Like MSNBC, CNN s coldest spot was the Northwest, but CNN was colder than MSNBC in the mountain region, specifically Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Fox had a higher concentration of viewers throughout more of the country, filling the void in the Northwest left by MSNBC and CNN. Fox News also had a larger concentration of fans in Texas and on the Gulf Coast. The main difference between Fox News and the other cable news nets was in the big cities. While CNN and MSNBC attracted viewers in large cities, Fox News was cold in these places on election night. This includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and the entire Northeast. MSNBC HEAT MAP Election Night CNN HEAT MAP Election Night

5 FOX NEWS HEAT MAP Election Night

6 Attachment # Election Night A18-49 Live Ratings by Half Hour Late Night / Overnight Half-Hour ABC CBS NBC CNN Fox News MSNBC 11:00-11:30PM NA NA :30PM-12:00AM NA :00-12:30AM :30-1:00AM :00-1:30AM :30-2:00AM :00-2:30AM 0.79* 0.18** :30AM-3:00AM 0.58* 0.26** Election Night A25-54 Live Ratings by Half Hour Late Night / Overnight Half-Hour ABC CBS NBC CNN Fox News MSNBC 11:00-11:30PM NA NA :30PM-12:00AM NA :00-12:30AM :30-1:00AM :00-1:30AM :30-2:00AM :00-2:30AM 0.94* 0.22** :30AM-3:00AM 0.75* 0.26** Source: Nielsen Media Research, NPower 11/6/2012. * ABC World News Now ** CBS Up To the Minute