ABC World News Tonight with David Muir finished the week of Feb. 7, 2022 as the No. 1 evening newscast, both in total viewers (averaging 8.47 million) and among adults 25-54 (averaging 1.545 million).
America’s top evening newscast lost -8% in total viewers and -11% in adults 25-54 from the prior week (Jan. 31). Compared with the same week in 2021 (Feb. 8), the trend was worse, with World News Tonight losing -11% in average total audience and -18% among adults 25-54.
It’s worth remembering that the week of Feb. 8, 2021 featured the impeachment of former President Trump, when interest in TV news was especially high.
Nevertheless, ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 167 of the past 168 weeks in average total viewers—and 96 of the last 98 weeks among adults 25-54; and for the first time in 28 years World News Tonight ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast during an Olympics week among adults 25-54—and delivered its largest margin of victory in Total Viewers since 1992 Barcelona.
Speaking of Olympics, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 6.74 million total viewers and 1.27 million adults 25-54 during the week of Feb. 7. The evening newscast fell -15% in total viewers and -12% among adults 25-54 from the prior week. Compared to the same week in 2021, the newscast lost -15% in total viewers and -21% in adults 25-54.
NBC’s primetime coverage of this year’s Olympics has rated poorly. The Olympics traditionally has a halo effect on NBC News programming, which is why both Nightly News and Today are posting smaller-than-usual Olympics week audiences. It’s also worth noting that Nightly News is airing up to three hours earlier than its regular start time in both the mountain and pacific time zones, which doesn’t exactly stop the bleeding.
Additionally, on YouTube, full weekday episodes of NBC Nightly News averaged 602,000 views and roughly 500,000 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 averaged 5.15 million total viewers and 819,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Feb. 7. The newscast shed -12% in total viewers and -20% among adults 25-54. The year-over-year trend was worse, with Evening News losing -16% in average total viewers and -30% among adults 25-54.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Feb. 7, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,473,000 | 6,743,000 | 5,149,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,545,000 | 1,266,000 | 819,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 2/7/22), Previous Week (w/o 1/31/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/8/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 2/13/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 2/14/21). 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.