“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” topped “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” by 1.2 million total viewers and 92,000 A25-54 viewers for the week of February 24. Sawyer’s broadcast, in turn, topped “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” by 1.2 million total viewers and 481,000 demo viewers.
In the first week after the Sochi Olympics, NBC’s audience was +3% larger than its first week after the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and +2% larger than the first week after the 2006 Turino Olympics.
Compared to the same week last year, “Nightly” was up +7% in total viewers and flat in the demo. “World News” was flat in total viewers and up +2% in the demo, while “Evening News” was up +5% and down -9%, respectively.
Numbers for the week of February 23, 2014:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 9,642,000 | 8,438,000 | 7,246,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,366,000 | 2,274,000 | 1,793,000 |
As for the February sweep:
As usual, “Nightly” wins in total viewers and the demo. Boosted by NBC’s coverage of the Sochi Olympics, “Nightly” grew +15% in total viewers and +11% in the A25-54 demo compared to the year-ago sweep. “World News,” up +3% in total viewers and up +1% in the demo, delivered its best sweep in total viewers in five years and in the demo in four years. “Evening News” was up +8% in total viewers and flat in the demo, delivering its best February sweep in viewers since 2006.
Numbers for February 2014:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 10,742,000 | 8,776,000 | 7,814,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,814,000 | 2,446,000 | 2,047,000 |