It was an interesting week when it came to the news about the evening news. However, the changes going on at CBS seemed to have no significant impact on evening news ratings. ABC remained No. 1 in the ratings race in total viewers, while NBC was No. 1 in the A25-54 demo.
Per most current data from Nielsen, World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 8.2 million viewers during the week of May 6, which is +696,000 more than what NBC Nightly News delivered. WNT has now won 32 of the past 33 weeks in the total viewers category.
The ABC evening newscast is well on its way to winning back-to-back-to-back seasons in total viewers, and is delivering its largest total viewer lead for a season in 23 years.
The NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt continued its run as the most-watched evening newscast among adults 25-54 this past week, averaging 1.6 million viewers in the key category. That’s +24,000 more than ABC averaged in the demo.
The NBC newscast is well on its way to winning the season in A25-54.
Nightly News featured a broadcast exclusive interview with Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who said he believed Mark Zuckerberg had become “extremely powerful because he has no boss.”
Versus the comparable week in 2018, the evening newscasts delivered strong performances. ABC was +7% in total viewers, NBC was +2% in total viewers, while the final week of the CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor was +1%. In the A25-54 demo, ABC was +3%, NBC +5% and CBS held steady vs. the comparable week last year.
Evening News’ 1.15 million A25-54 demo viewer average last week was the show’s largest weekly delivery in more than a month. A positive way for Glor to go out.
Numbers for the week of May 6 2019:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,188,000 | 7,492,000 | 5,635,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,588,000 | 1,612,000 | 1,146,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD, 2018-19 Current Week (w/o 5/6/19), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/7/18). Season to date: Most Current: 2018 -2019 Season (9/24/18 – 5/12/19) and 2017-2018 Season (9/25/18 – 5/13/18). Averages based on regular telecasts.