New week, similar trend: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir is the top-rated national evening newscast.
The ABC News juggernaut averaged 7.4 million total viewers and 1.12 million A25-54 viewers for the week of May 15, 2023. That’s according to live plus same day data from Nielsen.
WNT marked its eighth consecutive week as the most-watched regularly-scheduled U.S. show across broadcast and cable, and has now defeated its evening news competition from NBC and CBS 233 of the past 234 weeks in average total viewers—and 162 of the last 164 weeks among Adults 25-54.
ABC’s evening newscast posted its largest total viewer advantage over its NBC competition in nearly six months – since w/o 11/28/22 (+1.553 million).
World News Tonight gained +1% in total viewers and lost less than -1% in A25-54 viewers (-0.3%) compared to the week before (week of May 8). Additionally, ABC’s evening newscast gained +0.3% in total viewers but lost -15% in A25-54 viewers vs. the same week one year ago (May 16, 2022), as Americans under 55 increasingly leave linear TV news, while their parents and grandparents continue to tune in.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 5.84 million total viewers (No. 9 among all regularly-scheduled broadcast and cable TV programming) and 876,000 Adults 25-54 for the week of May 15. That’s -1% in total viewers and flat in A25-54 viewers versus what the newscast drew the previous week. Compared to the same week in 2022, Nightly News shed -4% in total viewers and -11% among Adults 25-54.
According to Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal, full weekday episodes of NBC Nightly News on YouTube reached an average of 971,300 views and 749,000 total viewers last week.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell experienced a subpar ratings week. The newscast averaged 4.28 million total viewers and just 627,000 Adults 25-54 for the week of May 15, which is -2% and -7%, respectively, from what the newscast drew in those measurements the prior week. The CBS Evening News also -5% in total viewers and -17% in A25-54 viewers from the year-ago week.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day viewer averages for the week of May 15, 2023:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,396,000 | 5,843,000 | 4,282,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,122,000 | 876,000 | 627,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 5/15/23), Previous Week (w/o 5/8/23) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/16/22). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19/22-5/21/23) and Season 2021-2022 (9/20/21-5/22/2023). 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.