During the week of October 2, 2023, ABC, NBC and CBS’ evening newscasts gained viewers from the week before, but posted mixed results relative to the comparable week in 2022.
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir came away as the top-rated program in the genre for the week, averaging 7.55 million total viewers and 1.11 million A25-54 viewers for Tuesday through Thursday of last week. The Monday, Oct. 2 broadcast was not Nielsen-rated/excluded due to Monday Night Football airing on ABC stations in several markets west of the Mississippi, and the Friday, Oct. 6 broadcast was preempted nationally for National Women’s Soccer League coverage.
According to live plus same day data from Nielsen, World News Tonight’s 7.55 million average is +1% from what the newscast averaged the previous week, and its 1.1 million A25-54 viewer average is +5% from the previous week (which was rated on four days). When compared with the same week in 2022 (which was rated on all five days), World News Tonight is +2% in total viewers but -8% in A25-54 viewers, as ABC’s evening newscast continues its trend of losing viewers under 55 on an annual basis.
World News Tonight was still the most-watched program on all of broadcast and cable TV (excluding sports), and has now defeated its evening competition from NBC and CBS 253 of the past 254 weeks in average total viewers—and 182 of the last 184 weeks among Adults 25-54.
Elsewhere on broadcast news, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was the fifth most-watched show across all of broadcast and cable TV (excluding sports), averaging more than 6.38 million total viewers and 980,000 A25-54 viewers for the week of Oct. 2. That’s a solid +3% bump in total viewers and +1% in A25-54 viewers from what the newscast averaged the week prior. However, Nightly News shed -2% in total viewers and -9% in A25-54 viewers from the year-ago week.
Additionally, 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 one million views and 773,000 viewers last week
Changing channels, The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell averaged 4.66 million total viewers and 664,000 Adults 25-54 for the week of Oct. 2. That’s up a solid +5% in total viewers and +7% in A25-54 viewers from the previous week. CBS Evening News, like ABC, gained total viewers from the year-ago week (+1%), but shed A25-54 viewers (-10%).
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of Oct. 2, 2023:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,546,000 | 6,378,000 | 4,656,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,110,000 | 980,000 | 664,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 10/22/23), Previous Week (w/o 9/25/23) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/26/22). Most Current Data Stream: 2022-2023 Season (9/25 – 10/9/22) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19 – 10/2/22). 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.