ABC World News Tonight with David Muir has cemented its status as the most-watched evening newscast in recent years. But it’s now starting to give NBC Nightly News a run for its money in terms of delivering younger news viewers.
For the second time in the past three weeks, World News Tonight was the No. 1 evening newscast across the board.
During the week of March 11, World News Tonight out-performed NBC bv +467,000 total viewers, and +61,000 adults 25-54, turning in its largest lead in the key adult demo in 2 months. Additionally, ABC’s evening newscast was the most-watched for the 24th time in the 25 weeks of the season.
WNT was -2 percent in total viewers, but +3 percent among adults 25-54 vs. the comparable week a year ago.
For the second time in three weeks, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt finished runner up to ABC across the board.
The newscast’s A25-54 demo lead has gone from +125,000 at this point last year, to +48,000 this year. A cause for concern? Perhaps.
That said, Nightly News remains the No. 1 evening newscast among younger news viewers this season to-date, and managed to deliver year-over-year audience growth this past week (+4 percent in total viewers and +2 percent in A25-54 demo viewers).
ABC, unlike NBC, was down year-over-year in total viewers.
The CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor was -9 percent in total viewers and -16 percent in A25-54 viewers compared to the year-ago week.
One should probably take that sharp year-ago week decline with a grain of salt. CBS Evening News was retitled on Thursday and Friday of the comparable week last year (week of March 12), due to the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The 2019 tournament is starting a week later this year, and CBS Evening News ratings from last week (week of March 11) are based on all 5 days. That will change when the 2019 tournament tips off later this week.
March Madness airs on CBS and Turner Sports.
Numbers for the week of Mar. 11, 2019:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,643,000 | 8,176,000 | 6,111,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,840,000 | 1,779,000 | 1,215,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD, 2018-19 Current Week (w/o 3/4/19), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/5/18). Season to date: Most Current: 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/18 – 3/10/19) and 2017-2018 Season (9/25/18 – 3/11/18). Averages based on regular telecasts.