The familiar trend returned in the evening news ratings race: For the week, ABC had the No. 1 evening newscast in total viewers, while NBC had the top evening newscast among adults 25-54.
Anchored by David Muir, ABC World News Tonight has now won 9 of the 10 weeks of the broadcast season to-date, and even won Wednesday across all relevant audience categories, not just among total viewers.
World News also managed to post year-over-year viewer growth. The program was up less than +1 percent in total viewers, but +6 percent in adults 25-54 vs. the comparable week last year, when the firing of Matt Lauer from NBC News shook the media world and brought increased attention to TV news.
Speaking of NBC, it was going to be awfully tough for Nightly News to draw the audience it did at this time last year as a result of the Lauer news and the increased attention it brought to NBC. The newscast was -2 percent in total viewers, and -6 percent in adults 25-54 this past week vs. the comparable week in 2017. That said, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt won Thursday across the board, and scored a victory in the adults 25-54 category for the 18th consecutive week.
The CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor posted the most significant year-over-year drop off in the ratings department, -7 percent in total viewers, and -10 percent among adults 25-54 vs. the comparable week in 2017.
The averages for the week of Nov. 26, 2018:
| Network | ABC | NBC | CBS |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 9,146,000 | 9,010,000 | 6,403,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,931,000 | 2,009,000 | 1,311,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 11/26/18, and 11/27/17. Most Current: 2018 -2019 Season (9/24 – 12/2/18) and 2017-2018 Season (9/25 – 12/3/17). Averages based on regular telecasts.