ABC World News Tonight with David Muir continued to be the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in total viewers and the advertiser-coveted demo of Adults 25-54 for the final week of February. This accolade now stretches to three consecutive weeks.
For the week of February 26, 2024, WNT and CBS Evening with Norah O’Donnell registered week-to-week growth in A25-54, but Nightly News with Lester Holt saw week-to-week declines in the demo.
ABC World News Tonight averaged 7.830 million total viewers for the week of Feb. 26. This was basically flat from the previous week (the week beginning on Feb. 19), up just +0.5%. The evening newscast averaged 1.108 million viewers from the key A25-54 demo, a +5% improvement from the week before. Looking at the evening news show’s performance to the same week in 2023 (the week beginning Feb. 27), WNT was down in total viewers by -6% and fell by -15% in the A25-54 demo. WNT can find solace in that it continues to tower over its competition in 274 of the past 275 weeks in average total viewers—and 202 of the past 205 weeks among A25-54.
Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt came in second place in total viewers this past week, averaging 6.549 million viewers and 912,000 in A25-54. It was flat in total viewers and dropped by -3% in the A25-54 demo when compared to the previous week. When looking at its performance in the same week a year ago, Nightly News saw a decline in both total viewers and A25-54 with -7 % and -20%, respectively.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.713 million total viewers to land as the No. 3 newscast for the week of Feb. 26. It was down by -2% from the previous week and dropped by -8% from the year-ago week. In the demo, the newscast averaged 692,000 viewers, gaining +4% when compared to the previous week. It saw a dip of -8% viewers when looking at the year-ago week numbers.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Feb. 26, 2024:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,830,000 | 6,549,000 | 4,713,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,108,000 | 912,000 | 692,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 2/26/24), Previous Week (w/o 2/19/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/20/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 3/3/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 2/26/23). 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.