It was a rough week ratings-wise for the evening newscasts, at least relative to the same week last year. NBC, ABC and CBS posted year-over-year declines in total viewers and adults 25-54.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt managed to win the week of February 20 in all key categories, including total viewers. Nightly News won all five evenings last week, and won its 20th consecutive month among A25-54 viewers in February 2017. Additionally, Nightly has ranked No. 1 in A25-54 and A18-49 for 82 of the last 83 weeks. That being said, the newscast was -4 percent in total viewers and -8 percent in the key news demo relative to the same week last year (week of Feb. 22, 2016).
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained in the No. 2 spot, but was -5 percent in total viewers and a significant -15 percent in the news demo relative to the same week last year. Despite the declines, World News is posting the closest overall viewer performance with Nightly News in 20 years (1996-1997 season).
The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley ranked No. 3 this past week. The newscast was -9 percent in total viewers and -13 percent in the key news demo versus the same week last year.
It’s reasonable to expect continued year-over-year viewer declines for the evening newscasts, particularly among younger viewers, as we move further away from the election.
Numbers for the week of Feb. 20, 2017:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,561,000 | 8,440,000 | 7,005,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,991,000 | 1,760,000 | 1,568,000 |