For the week of Dec. 17, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained the most-watched newscast, while NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt remained at the top among Adults 25-54.
World News has won 12 of the 13 weeks this broadcast TV season among total viewers, and is the most-watched evening newscast for the 3rd consecutive season. The ABC broadcast also held relatively steady in viewership vs. the comparable week last year. In addition to finishing No. 1 last week in total viewers, World News was only -1 percent in the measure year-over-year, and was flat among adults 25-54.
Despite winning the advertiser-preferred A25-54 demo, Nightly News, on the other hand, posted a year-over-year decline of -13 percent in the measurement. But as the saying goes: “A win’s a win,” and Nightly has now won the key demo for 21 consecutive weeks.
The NBC nightly newscast was also -5 percent in total viewers vs. last year.
CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor was -4 percent in total viewers and -2 percent in Adults 25-54 vs. the comparable week last year.
NOTE: On Friday (12/21/18), World News Tonight was retitled to “Wrld News Tonite,” while the “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws.” ABC’s and CBS’ averages are based on 4 days (Mon-Thurs). NBC’s are based on all 5 days.
The averages for the week of Dec. 17, 2018:
| Network | ABC | NBC | CBS |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,781,000 | 8,430,000 | 6,233,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,776,000 | 1,847,000 | 1,229,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 12/17/18, and 12/18/17. Most Current Data, 2018 -2019 Season (9/24 – 12/23/18) and 2017-2018 Season (9/25 – 12/24/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.