NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt won its second week in a row in total viewers, while ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir continues to win the younger demo. This was Nightly’s best total viewer delivery in four weeks. It edged ABC by just 26,000 viewers or .3 percent. Compared to the same week last year only the NBC broadcast was down in both viewers and the A25-54 demo: down -5 percent in viewers and down -12 percent in the demo.
Only ABC saw growth in both measurements: up +8 percent in viewers and up +2 percent in the demo. CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was up 6 percent in viewers but down 6 percent in the demo.
The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi takes a closer look at the evening news race specifically on how World News Tonight has evolved over the last year. While the changes have resulted in ratings growth, Farhi writes critics have “lamented the rapid-fire presentation, the emphasis on visually arresting but largely vapid videos, and the diminution of news from Washington and abroad.”
All three broadcasts are based on a four-day average due to the Memorial Day holiday last Monday.
Numbers for the week of May 25, 2015:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,676,000 | 7,650,000 | 6,418,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,771,000 | 1,880,000 | 1,442,000 |