The 2016 primary season has finally given a boost to the evening newscasts. After several weeks of year-over-year viewership declines, all three newscasts saw growth last week vs. the same week last year.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, No. 1 in total viewers and the A25-54 demo, was up +8 percent in both. ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir was up +7 percent in viewers but down -4 percent in the demo. The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was up +8 percent in viewers and up +10 percent in the demo.
The growth comes just as most of the U.S. enters Daylight Saving Time, when evening news viewership typically drops.
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Numbers for the week of March 7, 2016:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,742,000 | 8,665,000 | 7,427,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,109,000 | 1,961,000 | 1,770,000 |