World News Tonight held onto the top spot in total viewers, while NBC Nightly News remained No. 1 in the advertiser-preferred A25-54 demo for the week of Aug. 6.
Anchored by David Muir, World News Tonight drew nearly 7.9 million total viewers this past week, +.4 percent vs. the comparable week in 2017. World News won the last 26 weeks in total viewers and 42 of the 46 weeks of the season in the category. The ABC evening newscast is also delivering its largest total viewership this season in 13 years, and is winning the broadcast season in total viewers by its largest margin over NBC in 22 years.
That said, World News Tonight lost viewers from the key A25-54 demo, and was -7 percent in the category vs. last year.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was the No. 1 evening newscast in the A25-54 demo for the week, earning its largest margin of victory over WNT in the demo in 12 weeks, and increased its demo advantage over its ABC rival vs. last year by +1 percent. Nightly continues as the No. 1 most-watched evening newscast season-to-date in the demo, and has finished No. 1 in the key demo 5 out of the last 6 weeks.
Despite a win in the demo, Nightly News saw a -6 percent drop off relative to last year. The newscast was also -4 percent in total viewers vs. last year.
For the week of August 6, Nightly News rated for four nights only (August 6, 7, 8, and 10) due to NFL preseason football on Thursday.
lastly, the CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor posted year-over-year audience losses this past week, especially struggling in drawing adults 25-54 relative to 2017. The broadcast was -16 percent among adults 25-54, and -6 percent in total viewers vs. the week of Aug. 7, 2017.
The averages for the week of August 6, 2018:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,868,000 | 7,262,000 | 5,450,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,510,000 | 1,587,000 | 1,064,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 8/6/18, and 8/7/17. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17 – 8/12/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16 – 8/13/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.