There was a split decision in the evening news ratings race this past week. ABC World News Tonight remained No. 1 in total viewers, while NBC Nightly News held up as the top evening newscast among adults 25-54.
Anchored by David Muir, WNT, the most-watched evening newscast, has now won the last 22 weeks in total viewers and 38 of the 42 weeks of the current broadcast season. In addition to leading NBC and CBS in total viewers, World News Tonight is presently delivering its largest total audience since the 2004-2005 broadcast season. Additionally, compared to the same week last year, World News was +3 percent in total viewers, and +1 percent in the key A25-54 demo, making it the only evening newscast to grow in both total viewers and among adults 25-54 from same week one year ago.
Anchored by Lester Holt, Nightly News beat ABC World News Tonight by +24,000 A25-54 viewers (+2 percent) and CBS Evening News by +555,000 viewers (+56 percent) this past week, and is the most-watched evening newscast among adults 25-54 for the current broadcast season. But compared to the same week last year, Nightly News was -1 percent in total viewers, and -3 percent among adults 25-54.
On a side note, Holt led NBC News’ coverage of President Trump’s Helsinki Summit and first trip to the UK.
Anchored by Jeff Glor, the CBS Evening News struggled this past week relative to the same week in 2017. The broadcast was -8 percent in total viewers, and -19 percent among adults 25-54. The network hopes Glor’s interviews with President Trump this week will give the newscast a needed kick start in the ratings department.
Numbers for the week of July 9:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,714,000 | 7,205,000 | 5,330,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,527,000 | 1,551,000 | 995,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 7/9/18 and 7/10/17. Season-to-Date: Most Current: 2017-2018 Season (9/25/17-7/15/18) and 2016-2017 Season (9/19/16-7/16/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.