A major news event that comes along once every four years — the presidential inauguration — didn’t move the needle much among the evening newscasts. All three shows were flat or down compared to the same week last year in younger viewers while both “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” and “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” were also flat in Total Viewers. Only “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” saw viewership growth: +8% year-over-year.
And when compared to the week of January 19, 2009 — President Obama’s first inauguration — again, only Pelly’s broadcast is up: +2% in viewership while NBC and ABC are down -9% / -10%, respectively. All three shows were down double digits in younger viewers compared to 2009: NBC -24%, ABC -30% and CBS -12%.
Numbers for the week of January 21, 2013:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 9,220,000 | 8,258,000 | 7,232,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,545,000 | 2,188,000 | 2,033,000 |