ABC and NBC split the evening news ratings race for the week of June 17, with World News Tonight taking the top spot in total viewers, and Nightly News No. 1 among adults 25-54.
The David Muir-anchored newscast was the most-watched evening newscast of the week, beating NBC and CBS in total viewers for the 38th time in the 39 weeks of the season.
Not only did the newscast hold strong in total viewers, but it posted growth in the category from the comparable week in 2018. WNT has posted year-over-year growth in total viewers for three consecutive weeks.
ABC’s flagship newscast ranks No. 1 in total viewers for the 3rd year in a row after finishing as the No. 1 evening newscast for the last 2 seasons.
Over on NBC– the Lester Holt-anchored newscast topped ABC by +25,000 A25-54 viewers (+2%), and +497,000 A25-54 viewers (+49%) this past week. The network’s flagship newscast also continues to lead ABC in 2019 to-date in the aforementioned advertiser-preferred demo.
Holt is anchoring Nightly News from Miami this week, site of the first Democratic primary debate.
Compared to the same week last year, ABC was +3% in total viewers, NBC was -3% in total viewers, while the CBS Evening News was -2%. In the A25-54 demo, ABC was -5%, NBC was flat and CBS -5% vs. the comparable week last year.
CBS announced on Monday that the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell will launch from New York on July 15.
Full Q2 2019 evening news ratings are scheduled to be released by Nielsen one week from today.
Numbers for the week of June 17, 2019:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,965,000 | 7,050,000 | 5,282,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,490,000 | 1,515,000 | 1,018,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD, 2018-19 Current Week (w/o 6/17/19), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 6/18/18). Season to date: Most Current: 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/18 – 6/23/19) and 2017-2018 Season (9/25/18 – 6/24/18). Averages based on regular telecasts.