ABC World News Tonight with David Muir held onto its No. 1 ranking this past week — which means it has now defeated its evening news competition from NBC and CBS 204 of the past 205 weeks in average total viewers—and 133 of the last 135 weeks among adults 25-54.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for the week of Oct. 24, World News Tonight averaged eight million total linear viewers, the second-largest audience of any U.S. TV show, excluding sports programming, and the show’s largest total audience in four weeks — since the week of Sept. 26.
World News Tonight’s eight million total viewer average represents a week-to-week gain of +4%, but a -1% loss from the same week one year ago. ABC’s evening newscast also averaged 1.3 million adults 25-54 this past week, which is a +2% gain from the prior week (Oct. 17), but -11% versus the same week one year ago, (Oct. 25, 2021).
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt continues to post week-to-week viewer growth across the board. The second-ranked evening newscast averaged 6.66 million total viewers on linear this past week, which is up +2% from the prior week. Similar to ABC, NBC Nightly News averaged its largest total audience in four weeks — since the week of Sept. 26.
Additionally, Nightly averaged 1.12 million adults 25-54 on linear, which happens to be +5% from the previous week. That said, NBC’s evening newscast dropped by -5% in total viewers and by -5% in A25-54 viewers from the year-ago week, as all three major evening newscasts continue to post year-over-year viewer losses.
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 731,000 views and 581,000 viewers last week.
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged more than 4.82 million total linear viewers this past week. That’s up +3% from the previous week, but -8% from the year-ago week. Additionally, Evening News averaged 794,000 adults 25-54 this past week, which is +5% from the previous week but -8% from the year-ago week.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Oct. 24, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,003,000 | 6,657,000 | 4,822,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,300,000 | 1,122,000 | 794,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 10/24/22), Previous Week (w/o 10/17/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 10/25/21). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19 – 10/30/22), Season 2021-2022 (9/20 – 10/31/21). 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.