New week, same trend: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir is the top-rated evening newscast for the week of January 9.
With the week of Jan. 9 win, World News Tonight has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 215 of the past 216 weeks in average total viewers—and 143 of the last 145 weeks among adults 25-54.
WNT averaged 9.07 million total linear viewers during the week of Jan. 9, 2023, a -2% decline from the previous week (the week of Jan. 2) but the largest audience on all of U.S. television, excluding sports programming, of course. The newscast also averaged more than 1.5 million viewers from the key A25-54 demo this past week, which is -3% from the prior week. The week-to-week losses aren’t particularly surprising considering the prior week’s news cycle was dominated by breaking news concerning the House speaker vote. In fact, on Tuesday, Jan. 3, Day 1 of the vote, World News Tonight delivered its most-watched telecast (9.98 million) in nearly two years.
Compared to the same week one year ago, ABC’s evening newscast is +1% in total viewers but -13% in A25-54 demo, as Americans under 55 continue to leave linear TV news at a much faster rate than their elders.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 7.53 million total viewers during the week of Jan. 9, 2023, making it the third-most-watched U.S. show of the week, excluding sports, specials and syndication. The newscast averaged 1.32 million adults 25-54 last week, No. 2 on U.S. TV (also excluding sports, specials and syndication). That’s -3% and -3%, respectively, from what the newscast drew in those measurements the week prior. Nightly News is -7% in total viewers and -9% in A25-54 viewers from what it averaged during the year-ago week.
It’s worth noting that NBC Nightly News was retitled to “NBC Nitely News” on Tuesday, Jan. 10 due to NBC’s live coverage of the 2023 Golden Globes, and that Tuesday broadcast is excluded from the weekly and season averages. As a result, Nightly’s week of Jan. 9 ratings are based on just four days, whereas ABC and CBS are based on the usual five days.
According to data from Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals—and the YouTube Analytics Portal, full weekday episodes of NBC Nightly News earned an average of 848,000 views and 667,000 total viewers streaming via YouTube.
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged more than 5.54 million total viewers this past week, -2% from the previous week and -4% vs. the year-ago week. The newscast also averaged 887,000 adults 25-54 this past week, which is -6% from the previous week but -14% from the year-ago week.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Jan. 9, 2023:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 9,073,000 | 7,527,000 | 5,543,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,503,000 | 1,316,000 | 887,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 1/9/23), Previous Week (w/o 1/2/23) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/10/22). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19/22 – 1/15/23), Season 2021-2022 (9/20/21 – 1/16/22). 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.