Week No. 1 of the NBA Finals is always significant for ABC, and that momentum traditionally trickles over to the evening newscast. That was the case once again this year.
World News Tonight with David Muir ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast in total viewers and adults 25-54 for the 2nd consecutive week. In addition, the ABC evening newscast has been No. 1 in total viewers for the last 16 weeks, and 32 of the last 36 in the broadcast season to-date. World News is presently delivering its largest viewership in 13 years – since the 2004-05 season.
Compared to the same week last year, World News was +8 percent in total viewers and +13 percent in the demo. The newscast has been posting annual audience growth lately even without the Finals.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt took second place among total viewers and in the key A25-54 demographic this past week. Similar to its ABC competition, Nightly was up year-over-year: +7 percent in total viewers and +1 percent in A25-54. Its ratings are based on 4 days, and it had the Stanley Cup Finals to give it a ratings boost.
CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor was -1 percent in total viewers, but held steady in the key A25-54 demo versus last year. Nothing to scoff at considering CBS had no live sports in prime time to help it out in the ratings department.
Editor’s note: On Memorial Day Monday (May 28) World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News were coded as specials. In addition, due to NBA Finals Game 1 on Thursday May 31, World News Tonight was retitled to Wrld News Tonite. Each telecast is excluded from the weekly averages. ABC’s averages are based on 3 days (Tue, Wed and Fri), while CBS’ and NBC’s averages are based on 4 days (Tue-Fri). This was also the case in 2017.
Numbers for the week of May 28, 2018:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 8,163,000 | 7,606,000 | 5,676,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,657,000 | 1,644,000 | 1,175,000 |