There was another split decision in the evening news ratings race last week, with ABC World News Tonight with David Muir finishing the final week of the 2018-2019 season as the most-watched of the big three, while NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was top dog among adults 25-54.
Nightly News averaged 1.63 million in the key A25-54 demo this past week, beating ABC by +93,000 (+6%) and CBS by +710,000 (+77%). Nightly also posted less-severe year-over-losses than its competitors.
By closing the season with a win last week, the ABC evening newscast ended up averaging a larger total audience than its NBC and CBS counterparts for 51 out of the 52-week 2018-2019 season. This an improvement from the 2017-2018 season, where World News won 48 of the 52 weeks in total viewers.
On the downside, all of the evening newscasts were down versus the same week last year. World News Tonight was -1% in total viewers, and -5% in the key A25-54 demo. Nightly News was -3% in total viewers and -2% among adults 25-54. The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell was -10% in total viewers, and a whopping -20% among adults 25-54.
Average audience for the week of Sept. 16 2019:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,136,000 | 7,337,000 | 5,040,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,538,000 | 1,631,000 | 921,000 |