NBC Nightly News has taken over the top spot as the most-watched evening newscast, season-to-date. The Lester Holt-anchored broadcast won last week in both total viewers and the demo. But compared to the same week last year, which was a big week for all three evening newscasts, all three are down.
Nightly News was down -8 percent in viewers and down -14 percent in the demo; ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir was down -7 percent in viewers and down -6 percent in the demo, while the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was down -11 percent in viewers and down -20 percent in the demo.
This is a troubling sign considering last week saw the departure of one U.S. president and the inauguration of another. And it comes as Pres. Trump continues to publicly bash the news media when it comes to coverage of him. Whether Trump’s media angst continues to adversely affect the three evening newscasts, which draw a combined 26 million viewers every night, remains to be seen.
Numbers for the week of Jan. 16, 2017:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 9,444,000 | 9,138,000 | 7,511,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,368,000 | 2,145,000< | 1,667,000 |