ABC World News Tonight with David Muir continued its hot streak as the No. 1 program in all of broadcast and cable entering the final week of January and the first week of February (excluding sports).
However, all three evening news broadcasts suffered a week-to-week audience decline in both total viewers and Adults 25-54 for the week of Jan.29.
ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.082 million total viewers for the week of Jan. 29, 2024. This was a -6% decline from the previous week (the week beginning on Jan. 22). ABC’s evening newscast also averaged 1.096 million viewers from the key A25-54 demo, a decline of -7% from the week before. Looking at the show’s performance to the same week in 2023 (the week beginning Jan. 30), WNT was down in total viewers by -9% and fell by -23% in the A25-54 demo.
Despite the week-to-week drop, World News Tonight continues to top its competition from NBC and CBS in 270 of the past 271 weeks in average total viewers—and 198 of the past 201 weeks among A25-54.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was in second place in total viewers this past week, averaging 6.746 million viewers. It was down -8% compared to the previous week in total viewers and by -9% in A25-54 to stand at 1.009 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 -11 % and -17%, respectively.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.997 million total viewers to come in third place for the week of Jan. 29, 2024. That’s down -5% from the previous week and -9% from the year-ago week. The newscast also averaged 719,000 A25-54 viewers this past week, recording a double-digit drop of -10% from the previous week. It also shed viewers from the year-ago week, falling by -18%.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Jan. 29, 2024:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,082,000 | 6,746,000 | 4,997,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,096,000 | 1,009,000 | 719,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 1/29/24), Previous Week (w/o 1/22/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/23/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 1/4/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 1/29/23). 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.