A preliminary ''first-order'' comparison is performed between Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) global data sets from four different cloud-generating climate models and the 5-year averages of Nimbus 7 wide-angle measurements of ERB for December and June. The rms differences between the model fields and the Nimbus averages are of the order of 1.5-2 times the rms interannual variability of the Nimbus measurements themselves (which are roughly 10 W m-2 for long-wave and 25 W m-2 for shortwave). Correlations between model and measurement on a regional scale are not obvious. A more direct comparison with the Nimbus measurements of model ERB calculated at the time of the satellite overpass gives very large rms differences, which presumably are a reflection of inherent noisiness of the model calculations. It is recommended for the future that for purposes of tuning models, the calculated outputs be of the fluxes at satellite height and position. They should also be in a common agreed format. ¿American Geophysical Union 1987