The No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable once again belongs to ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, which continued its dominance during the first week of February.
Interestingly enough, WNT was the only evening newscast to show week-to-week growth in either of the categories, with a +1% increase in total viewers.
The week, which was highlighted by the SCOTUS Donald Trump ballot hearings, saw ABC World News Tonight average 8.124 million total viewers for the week of Feb. 5, 2024. As mentioned earlier, this was a +1% increase from the previous week (the week beginning on Jan. 29). ABC’s evening newscast also averaged 1.098 million viewers from the key A25-54 demo. It was flat from the week before.
Looking at the evening news show’s performance to the same week in 2023 (the week beginning Feb. 6), WNT was down in total viewers by -3% and fell by -17% in the A25-54 demo.
World News Tonight continues to enjoy its reign at the top, towering over its competition from NBC and CBS in 271 of the past 272 weeks in average total viewers—and 199 of the past 202 weeks among adults 25-54.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was in second place in total viewers this past week, averaging 6.764 million viewers and 1,014,000 in A25-54. It was basically flat in both categories compared to the previous week percentage-wise but did add incremental viewers, including +.5% in A25-54. However, the gap between WNT and Nightly News remains tight in the key advertiser demo as only 84,000 viewers separate the two newscasts.
The battle between the two broadcasts continues to be fierce as Nightly News records 8 out of 9 consecutive weeks of beating WNT in the A25-54 demo for at least one day during the 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 -14%, respectively.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 5.009 million total viewers to come in third place for the week of Feb. 5, 2024. That’s flat from the previous week and -6% from the year-ago week. The newscast also averaged 717,000 adults in the A25-54 viewer demo this past week, which was also flat compared to the previous week. It shed viewers from the year-ago week, falling by -9%. However, it was the only network to post a single-digit drop when comparing the same week a year ago numbers within the A25-54 demo. The others posted double-digit drops.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Feb. 5, 2024:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,124,000 | 6,764,000 | 5,009,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,098,000 | 1,014,000 | 717,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 2/5/24), Previous Week (w/o 1/29/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/30/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 2/11/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 2/5/23). 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.