Week of June 27 Evening News Ratings: World News Tonight Is Most-Watched Show on U.S. TV, Excluding Syndication

By A.J. Katz 

According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 7.325 million total viewers and 1.24 million adults 25-54, making it top-rated show on U.S. TV—excluding syndicated programming—in total viewers and among adults 25-54. Additionally, ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 187 of the past 188 weeks in average total viewers—and 116 of the last 118 weeks among adults 25-54.

How did the newscast fare last week against comparable weeks? The results are mixed. World News Tonight gained +1% in total viewers % but shed -5% from the adults 25-54 demo vs. the previous week. WNT also lost -4% in total viewers and -7% among adults 25-54 from the same week in 2021 (June 28).

NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was the sole evening newscast to post viewer growth in multiple measurements from the previous week. The program averaged 6.19 million total viewers on NBC this past week, which is +2% from the week before—but down -7% from the comparable week in 2021. The 6.19 million total viewer average places the broadcast at No. 2 on U.S. TV, excluding sports and syndication. Additionally, NBC Nightly News averaged 1.05 million adults 25-54 this past week, which represents the tightest margin vs. ABC in the measurement since December. The 1.05 million figure is also +9% from what Nightly averaged in the demo the previous week—but down -11% from the comparable week in 2021.

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Additionally, on YouTube, full episodes of NBC Nightly News reached 657,000 views and 486,000 viewers. That’s according to data from Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal.

The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.37 million total viewers and 730,000 adults 25-54 for the week of June 27. That’s -% when it comes to total viewers—and a % gain in adults 25-54 from the previous week. Evening News lost the most traction relative to the year-ago week, -10% in total viewers and -14% among adults 25-54.

On Friday, July 1, World News Tonight was retitled to “WNT-ABC”; 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. ABC’s, CBS’ and NBC’s weekly averages are based on four days (Monday-Thursday) as a result.

Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of June 27, 2022:

ABC NBC CBS
• Total Viewers: 7,325,000 6,192,000 4,366,000
• A25-54: 1,238,000 1,048,000 730,000

 

 

 

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 6/27/22), Previous Week (w/o 6/20/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 6/28/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 7/3/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 7/4/21). 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.

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