ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was the No. 1 evening newscast during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, both in total viewers (8.75 million) and among adults 25-54 (1.60 million) for the week of Dec. 27, 2021.
Guest-anchored by Whit Johnson last week, World News Tonight defeated both its NBC and CBS competition 161 of the past 162 weeks in average total viewers—and 90 of the last 92 weeks among adults 25-54.
The newscast gained +5% in total viewers and +9% in adults 25-54 from the prior week (Dec. 20). Compared with the same week in 2020, the trend was worse, with World News Tonight losing -10% in average total audience and -17% among adults 25-54.
Over on NBC, Nightly News with Lester Holt was guest-anchored by Peter Alexander and Kristen Welker during the week of Dec. 27. The broadcast came in second for the week behind ABC, both in total viewers (7.23 million) and among adults 25-54 (1.24 million). Compared to the prior week, NBC’s evening newscast held steady in total viewers but lost -2% in adults 25-54. Compared to the same week in 2020, the newscast fell by -17% in total viewers and -30% in adults 25-54.
Additionally, on YouTube, full weekday episodes of Nightly News averaged 604,000 views and nearly 481,000 viewers this past week. That’s according to data from Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell (guest-anchored by Major Garrett last week) averaged 5.13 million total viewers and 891,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Dec. 27. That’s +4% in total viewers and +6% in adults 25-54 viewers from what the newscast averaged the previous week. Additionally, similar to ABC and NBC, CBS saw year-over-year losses in average total viewers (-18%) and among adults 25-54 (-24%).
Due to New Year’s Eve, all three evening newscasts were coded as specials on Friday, Dec. 31. The special telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. ABC’s, CBS’ and NBC’s averages are based on 4 days (Monday-Thursday). The previous week (leading up to Christmas) was a shortened one as well. ABC’s weekly averages for that week are based on just 2 days (Tuesday-Wednesday), while CBS’ and NBC’s averages for that week are based on 4 days (Monday-Thursday).
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Dec. 27, 2021:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,747,000 | 7,233,000 | 5,153,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,602,000 | 1,240,000 | 891,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 12/27/21), Previous Week (w/o 12/20/21) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 12/28/20). Most Current: 2021 -2022 Season (9/20/21 – ½/22) and 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20 – 1/3/21). Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.