ABC, NBC and CBS evening newscasts saw very slight week-to-week audience declines. The year-over-year trend, however, was worse.
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir held onto its No. 1 ranking — it has now defeated its evening news competition from NBC and CBS 205 of the past 206 weeks in average total viewers—and 134 of the last 136 weeks among adults 25-54.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data for the week of Oct. 31, World News Tonight averaged 7.84 million total linear viewers, the second-largest audience of any U.S. TV show, excluding sports programming. That figure represents a decline of -2% from the prior week (Oct. 24). ABC’s evening newscast also averaged nearly 1.3 million adults 25-54 this past week, which is less than -1% from the prior week. The newscast is also down -2% in total viewers and -8% among adults 25-54 versus the same week one year ago (November 1, 2021).
After multiple weeks of viewer growth, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt saw a very slight decline in viewership. The second-ranked evening newscast averaged 6.6 million total viewers on linear this past week, which is -1% from the prior week. Nightly also averaged 1.12 million adults 25-54 on linear, which happens to be less than -1% from the previous week. However, NBC’s evening newscast dropped by -4% in total viewers and by -9% 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 743,000 views and 582,000 viewers last week.
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged more than 4.78 million total viewers this past week. That’s less than -1% from the previous week, and -5% from the year-ago week. Additionally, Evening News averaged 789,000 adults 25-54 this past week, which is less than -1% from the previous week but -14% from the year-ago week.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Oct. 31, 2022:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,842,000 | 6,598,000 | 4,783,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,294,000 | 1,116,000 | 789,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 10/31/22), Previous Week (w/o 10/24/22) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 11/1/21). Most Current Data Stream: Season 2022-2023 (9/19 – 11/6/22), Season 2021-2022 (9/20 – 11/7/21). 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.