During the week spanning March 7-11, 2022, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir averaged the most total viewers (8.91 million) of any U.S. TV show (excluding syndication) and the most adults 25-54 of any evening newscast (1.67 million), as per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
WNT’s big ratings week was aided by Muir’s exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen by more than 9 million U.S. TV viewers on Monday, March 7.
ABC’s evening newscast gained +1% in total viewers and +3% in adults 25-54 from the prior week (Feb. 28). Compared with the same week in 2021 (March 8), World News Tonight gained less than +1% in average total audience but shed -2% among adults 25-54.
The David Muir-led broadcast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 171 of the past 172 weeks in average total viewers—and 100 of the last 102 weeks among adults 25-54.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 7.29 million total viewers (No. 5 on all of U.S. TV) and 1.39 million adults 25-54 during the week of March 7. The evening newscast shed -1% in total viewers but gained +3% among adults 25-54 from the prior week. Compared to the same week in 2021, the newscast held steady in total viewers and again gained +3% in adults 25-54. Holt anchored Nightly News from Ukraine from inside Ukraine from Sunday through Wednesday. Sending an anchor to the scene of the conflict tends to result in an increase of younger news viewers—and that happened for Holt and Nightly News this past week.
On YouTube, full episodes of NBC Nightly News reached an average of 937,000 views and 746,000 viewers last week. That’s according to Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 5.25 million total viewers and 844,000 adults 25-54 for the week of March 7. That’s +3% in total viewers and +3% among adults 25-54 from the previous week. The year-over-year trend was worse, however, with Evening News losing -2% in average total viewers and -10% of its A25-54 audience.
After remaining in D.C., O’Donnell is now reporting on the war in Ukraine from the Ukraine-Poland border.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of March 7, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,907,000 | 7,293,000 | 5,251,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,667,000 | 1,389,000 | 844,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 3/7/22), Previous Week (w/o 2/28/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/8/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 3/13/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 3/14/21). 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.