During the July 4th holiday-shortened week, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was the No. 1 evening newscast in total viewers, while NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt continued its reign as the most-watched evening newscast among adults 25-54, the advertiser-preferred demographic.
Compared to the same week last year, World News Tonight was +3 percent in total viewers, but -2 percent among adults 25-54. The ABC evening newscast—which was anchored by Tom Llamas last week—has won the last 21 weeks in total viewers and 37 of the 41 weeks of the broadcast season. Season to date, it’s delivering its largest viewership in 13 years—since the 2004-05 season.
Nightly News also posted year-over-year growth in total viewers (+2 percent), yet was -2 percent in the key adults 25-54 demo despite finishing No. 1 in the category. Nightly is the No.1 evening newscast this season in adults 25-54.
The CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor remains in third place, -1 percent in total viewers and -1 percent in the key demo from the same week last year (week of July 3, 2017).
Due to the July 4 holiday, all three programs were coded specials on Wednesday (7/4/18). In addition, CBS Evening News was coded as a breakout on Thursday (7/5/18) and was retitled to CBS Evening Nws on Friday (7/6/18). Each telecast was excluded from the averages. The weekly averages for ABC and NBC are based on 4 days (Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri), while CBS’ averages is based on 2 days (Mon-Tues).
During July 4th holiday week last year, all three programs were Nielsen-rated for 3 days.
Numbers for the week of July 2, 2018:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,667,000 | 7,306,000 | 5,633,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,503,000 | 1,549,000 | 1,126,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 7/2/18, and 7/3/17. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17–7/8/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16–7/9/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.