“NBC News Wins Ratings Squeaker”

The AP recaps:

“Brian Williams traveled to Iraq, Charles Gibson went on vacation and the competition for evening-news viewers was as heated as ever. NBC’s Nightly News averaged 8.99 million viewers last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. ABC’s World News with Elizabeth Vargas substituting for Gibson, logged 8.94 million. Both had identical 6.1 ratings and 12 audience shares.”

> Variety: “From a ratings standpoint, the difference between NBC and ABC has become immaterial in the evening news race after Gibson won the February sweeps, ABC’s first victory in more than 10 years. For the season, Williams is still well ahead, beating Gibson by an average of 5% a night in total viewers, but ABC’s newscast is the only one that has grown year to year, while NBC’s has shrunk 5%.”