With Brian Williams off recovering from knee replacement surgery, “NBC Nightly News” with Lester Holt filling in remained the top evening newscast for the week of August 12.
But compared to the same week last year, only the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” showed total viewer growth. It also shed the most viewers in the A25-54 demo by percentage. CBS was up +4% in viewers, and down -15% in the demo. The loss of younger viewers could be attributed to the fact that CBS remains blacked out for Time Warner Cable customers in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and other markets. “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” saw a slight drop in viewers (-2%) and a slight uptick in the demo (+1%).
“Nightly” was down in both measurements: -8% and -14%, which was the week following the London Summer Olympics. During that period “Nightly News” saw its greatest viewership lead ever over its competitors.
Numbers for the week of August 12, 2013:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,195,000 | 6,896,000 | 5,768,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,865,000 | 1,774,000 | 1,385,000 |