There was another split decision in the evening news ratings race this past week, with ABC finishing No. 1 in total viewers and NBC winning among adults 25-54.
World News Tonight with David Muir defeated NBC Nightly News by +181,000 total viewers. During the comparable week in 2017, NBC had a razor-thin victory over ABC (+4,000). The ABC evening newscast has won the last 29 weeks in total viewers and 45 of the 49 weeks of the season.
WNT was -3 percent in total viewers vs. the same week in 2017 and -7 percent among adults 25-54.
Nightly News with Lester Holt repeated as the top evening newscast among the key A25-54 demographic. But NBC’s evening newscast lost viewers vs. the comparable week in 2017. For the week of Aug. 27, Nightly News was -5 percent in total viewers and -13 percent among adults 25-54.
The CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor posted similar year-over-year losses. The newscast was -7 percent in total viewers and -17 percent in A25-54 vs. the same week in 2017.
Due to NFL pre-season games on Thursday (Aug. 30) and the Labor Day holiday weekend, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News averages are based on just three days (Mon-Wed) and World News Tonight averages are based on four days (Mon-Thurs).
Average audience for the week of Aug. 27, 2018:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,234,000 | 8,053,000 | 5,779,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,665,000 | 1,821,000 | 1,124,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 8/27/18, 8/20/18 and 8/28/17. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17 – 9/2/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16 – 9/3/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.