ABC, NBC and CBS’ evening newscasts saw an overall drop in viewership during the week of December 5.
Top-ranked ABC World News Tonight with David Muir still held on to its No. 1 status in the evening news ratings race — meaning it has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 210 of the past 211 weeks in average total viewers—and 139 of the last 141 weeks among adults 25-54.
World News Tonight averaged 8.51 million total linear viewers this past week, a -4% decline from the previous week (the week of Nov. 28) but No. 1 on all of U.S. television, excluding sports programming. WNT also averaged 1.37 million viewers from the key demo this past week, which is -5% from the prior week. Compared to the same week in 2021, ABC’s evening newscast gained +1% in total viewers but is -11% in A25-54 viewers.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt remains the second-ranked evening newscast, averaging 7.07 million total viewers this past week (No. 4 on U.S. TV excluding specials, sports and syndie) along with 1.17 million A25-54 viewers during the week of Dec. 5. That’s -3% and -7%, respectively, from what the newscast drew in those measurements the previous week. Nightly News is -4% in total viewers and -11% in A25-54 viewers from the year-ago week.
According to data from Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals—and the YouTube Analytics Portal, full weekday episodes of NBC Nightly News earned an average of 814,000 views and 645,000 viewers last week.
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 5.16 million total viewers this past week, which is -3% from the previous week, and -2% from the year-ago week. The newscast averaged 813,000 adults 25-54 this past week, which is -3% from the previous week and -9% from the year-ago week, as all three newscasts continue to post substantial A25-54 demo losses on an annual basis.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Dec. 5, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,512,000 | 7,070,000 | 5,159,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,374,000 | 1,174,000 | 813,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 12/5/22), Previous Week (w/o 11/28/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 12/6/21). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19 – 12/11/22), Season 2021-2022 (9/20 – 12/12/21). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.