All three evening newscasts saw viewership declines from the previous week, which often happens during the first week of daylight savings time.
Nevertheless, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was the top-rated evening newscast for the week of March 13, 2023, and has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 224 of the past 225 weeks in average total viewers—and 153 of the last 155 weeks among Adults 25-54.
According to live plus same day data from Nielsen, World News Tonight averaged just over eight million total linear viewers and 1.24 million adults 25-54 for the week of March 13, down -5% and -4%, respectively, from the previous week (the week of March 6). Compared to the year-ago week (March 14, 2022), World News Tonight gained +1% in total viewers yet dropped -8% of its A25-54 audience.
Despite this drop off, World News Tonight still managed its largest margin of victory in the key A25-54 demo since the week of November 14, 2022 — nearly four months.
Additionally, World News Tonight’s streak as the most-watched show across broadcast and cable TV ends at four weeks, as the program finished the week of March 13 at No. 2 on U.S. TV in average total viewers.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 6.73 million total viewers on linear for the week of March 13, making it the sixth-most-watched regularly-scheduled show of the week—excluding sports, specials and syndication. The 6.73 million average is -5% from what the newscast averaged the previous week. Among Adults 25-54, Nightly News averaged nearly 1.03 million this past week, which is -7% from the week prior. The newscast gained +6,000 total viewers (+0.1%) but shed -12% % among Adults 25-54 from the comparable week in 2022.
Additionally, according to data from Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals—and the YouTube Analytics Portal, full weekday episodes of Nightly News earned an average of 866,000 views and 664,000 total viewers streaming via YouTube.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.895 million total viewers this past week, a -1% drop from the previous week and -3% vs. the year-ago week. CBS Evening News averaged just 702,000 this past week — a -2% decline from the week prior and a -17% dropoff from the year-ago week.
On Thursday, March 16, CBS Evening News was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws,” and on Friday, March 17 it was coded as a breakout due to coverage of NCAA March Madness coverage. The telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages, and CBS’ weekly averages are based on just three days (Monday-Wednesday).
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of March 13, 2023:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,005,000 | 6,727,000 | 4,895,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,243,000 | 1,026,000 | 702,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 3/13/23), Previous Week (w/o 3/6/23) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/14/22). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19/22 – 3/19/23), Season 2021-2022 (9/20/21 – 3/20/22). 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.