Excluding sports, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir continues to be the No. 1 program in all of broadcast and cable, topping even CBS News’ 60 Minutes for the week of Jan.22.
ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.571 million total linear viewers for the week of Jan. 22, 2024, -2% from the previous week (the week beginning on Jan. 15). ABC’s evening newscast also averaged 1.183 million viewers from the key A25-54 demo for the week, a decline of -7% from the week before.
Looking at the evening show’s performance during the same week in 2023 (the week beginning Jan. 23), WNT was down in total viewers by -5% and fell by -21% in the A25-54 demo.
Nevertheless, World News Tonight has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS in 269 of the past 270 weeks in average total viewers—and 197 of the past 200 weeks among A25-54.
Second-place NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt hit a nine-week high in total viewers this past week, averaging 7.359 million. It was flat compared to the previous week in total viewers and rose by +2% in A25-54 to stand at 1.107 million viewers. 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 -5 % and -15%, respectively.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 5.279 million total viewers for the week of Jan. 22, 2024. That’s down -3% from the previous week and -7% from the year-ago week. The newscast also averaged 798,000 adults 25-54 this past week, which is +2% from the previous week but -13% from the week a year ago.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Jan. 22, 2024:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,571,000 | 7,359,000 | 5,279,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,183,000 | 1,107,000 | 798,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 1/22/24), Previous Week (w/o 1/15/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/16/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 1/28/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 1/22/23). 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.