“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” caps off 2013 atop the evening news broadcasts, leading “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” by +1,107,000 total viewers and +236,0000 A25-54 viewers for the week of December 23. Sawyer’s broadcast leads “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” by +1,018,000 and +884,000, respectively.
“World News” and “Evening News” were both down compared to the same week last year: Sawyer’s broadcast was down -4% in total viewers and -38% in the A25-54 demographic, while Pelley’s was down -3% and -43%, respectively. “Nightly News” was up slightly, +1%, in total viewers and down -32% in the demo.
Note: the averages are based on three days (Monday, Thursday and Friday) due to the Christmas holiday.
Numbers for the week of December 23, 2013:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,725,000 | 7,618,000 | 6,537,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,116,000 | 1,880,000 | 996,000 |
As for the fourth quarter: “Nightly” was number one for the 25th consecutive quarter, posting its best total viewer delivery in a fourth quarter since 2006. NBC also widened its total viewer lead over “World News” by +33% for the quarter. But the numbers are closer in the demo: ABC cut its year-to-year gap with NBC by -20% this quarter, posting its closest Q4 performance to NBC among younger viewers in 5 years.
Numbers for Q4 2013:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,996,000 | 7,925,000 | 6,925,000 |
| • A25-54: | 2,266,000 | 1,981,000 | 1,659,000 |