For the fourth consecutive week, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was the most-watched show on U.S. TV (excluding sports and syndication), averaging 7.85 million total viewers and 1.345 million adults 25-54 for the week of May 2. This is according to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen.
With its performance this past week, ABC’s evening newscast has now defeated its competition from NBC and CBS 179 of the past 180 weeks in average total viewers—and 108 of the last 110 weeks among adults 25-54.
World News Tonight did lose -1% in total viewers—and -4% in the adults 25-54 demo from the previous week (April 25), a week which only included two days worth of Nielsen ratings. WNT also lost -1% in total viewers and -9% in A25-54 viewers from the same week in 2021 (May 3).
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged more than 6.46 million total viewers on NBC this past week, making it the 4th most-watched program on all of TV (excluding sports/specials/syndie). The 6.46 million is -2% from the previous week, but +1% from the comparable week in 2021. The evening newscast also averaged 1.075 million adults 25-54 this past week, which is +2% from the previous week and represents the tightest gap with ABC in six weeks. However, that 1.075 million A25-54 average also happens to be -8% from what the broadcast pulled in during the year-ago week.
Additionally, on YouTube, full episodes of NBC Nightly News reached an average of 843,000 video views and 641,000 video viewers last week. That’s according to Adobe Analytics and Partner Portals; YouTube Analytics Portal.
The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.62 million total viewers and 759,000 adults 25-54 for the week of May 2. That’s less than -1% in total viewers, but +8% in adults 25-54 from the previous week. Relative to the year-ago week, Evening News shed -5% in total viewers and -7% among adults 25-54.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of May 2, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,846,000 | 6,461,000 | 4,621,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,345,000 | 1,075,000 | 759,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54. Live + SD Current Week (w/o 5/2/22), Previous Week (w/o 4/25/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/3/21). Most Current: 2021-2022 Season (9/20/21 – 5/8/22) and 2020-2021 Season (9/21/20 – 5/9/21). 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.