ABC World News Tonight with David Muir finished the week of Jan. 31, 2022 as the No. 1 evening newscast, both in total viewers (averaging 9.2 million) and among adults 25-54 (averaging 1.74 million).
ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 166 of the past 167 weeks in average total viewers—and 95 of the last 97 weeks among adults 25-54. Season to date, World News Tonight is No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 6th consecutive year—based on Most Current Data—and No. 1 among adults 25-54 (1. million) for the 3rd season in a row.
World News Tonight grew +2% in total viewers, and +7% in adults 25-54 from the prior week (Jan. 24). Compared with the same week in 2021 (Feb. 1 ’21), the trend was worse, with World News Tonight losing -6% in average total audience and -10% among adults 25-54.
Nevertheless, World News Tonight was the most-watched show on TV last week, excluding sports, specials, and syndication.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 7.93 million total viewers (No. 2 on all of TV, excluding sports, specials and syndication) and 1.44 million adults 25-54 during the week of Jan. 31. The newscast shed less than -1% in total viewers, and improved by +2% among adults 25-54 from the prior week. Compared to the same week in 2021, however, the newscast lost -4% in total viewers and -12% in adults 25-54.
Nightly News was rated for three evenings (Monday-Wednesday) last week due to Winter Olympics’ impact on Thursday and Friday.
Despite the newscast’s decline in viewership from 2021, Nightly News is closing the gap with World News Tonight, season to-date (basically Nightly News is losing a smaller percentage of its total audience than World News Tonight).
Additionally, on YouTube, full weekday episodes of NBC Nightly News averaged 615,000 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. million total viewers and ,000 adults 25-54 for the week of Jan. 31. The newscast posted more week-to-week ratings growth than its competitors, +5% in total viewers and +6% among adults 25-54. However, compared to the same week in 2021, Evening News was -3% in average total viewers and -6% among adults 25-54.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Jan. 31, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 9,200,000 | 7,928,000 | 5,838,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,742,000 | 1,439,000 | 1,024,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 1/31/22), Previous Week (w/o 1/24/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/1/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 2/6/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 2/7/21). 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.