All three evening newscasts saw week-to-week total viewer growth, bucking the general trend of viewer drop-off when daylight saving time returns. ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir was also the only broadcast to see year-over-year growth.
Compared to the same week last year ABC, which was also the most-watched newscast last week, was up +6 percent in viewers and +4 percent in the A25-54 demo. This makes it three weeks in a row at No. 1 for the Muir newscast, which now ranks No. 1 season-to-date. It’s the first time the broadcast has led at this point since the 1995-96 season.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, which was No. 1 in the demo, was flat in viewers and down -2 percent among younger viewers vs. last year. CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley was down -3 percent in viewers and down -4 percent in the demo.
Numbers for the week of March 13, 2017:
| NBC | ABC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,361,000 | 8,431,000 | 6,810,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,914,000 | 1,804,000 | 1,519,000 |