ABC’s and NBC’s evening newscasts gained viewers from the previous week, driven by a busy news cycle featuring the FBI search at Donald Trump’s Florida residence and the attack on Salman Rushdie.
According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remains at the top of the evening news food chain, averaging 7.53 million total viewers and 1.30 million adults 25-54 for the week of August 8. The 7.53 million figure means World News Tonight is once again the most-watched show on U.S. TV—excluding sports and syndication—for the week. Additionally, ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 193 of the past 194 weeks in average total viewers—and 122 of the last 124 weeks among adults 25-54.
World News Tonight gained +1% in total viewers and +2% from the adults 25-54 demo vs. the previous week (August 1), but was down -4% in total viewers and -10% among adults 25-54 from the comparable week in 2021 (Aug. 9).
Lester Holt had the week off from NBC Nightly News. Tom Llamas anchored the newscast on Monday, Tuesday and Friday and Kate Snow anchored Wednesday and Thursday. With Llamas and Snow at the desk, Nightly News averaged 6.17 million total viewers on the linear network, which is +2% from the week prior, to go with 1.03 million adults 25-54—which is an +11% gain from the week prior. The 6.17 million figure places the broadcast at No. 4 on U.S. TV, excluding specials, sports and syndication. Nightly News saw year-over-year declines of -5% in total viewers and -15% among adults 25-54.
On digital, Nightly News had its best week since March, with 15 million video views on and off network platforms, according to data from Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.44 million total viewers and just 715,000 adults 25-54 for the second week of August. That’s -1% when it comes to total viewers—and -5% in adults 25-54 from the previous week. Evening News was also down by -6% in total viewers and -17% among adults 25-54 vs. the comparable week in 2021.
On Friday Aug. 12, CBS Evening News was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws” and NBC Nightly News was retitled to “NBC Nitely News.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. CBS’ and NBC’s weekly evening news ratings averages are based on four days (Monday-Thursday), while ABC’s evening ratings averages are based on all five days, including Friday.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Aug. 8, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,533,000 | 6,170,000 | 4,440,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,303,000 | 1,026,000 | 715,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 8/8/22), Previous Week (w/o 8/1/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 8/9/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 8/14/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 8/15/21). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.