ABC WORLD NEWS Up in Key Demos Over Last Week

During the first quarter of 2014 "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 8.774 million Total Viewers and a 2.0 rating/7 share/2.361 million among Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. "World News" grew the most in the demo by +9% compared to last year. For the 2nd quarter in a row, "World News" posted increases compared to both the previous quarter (7.928 million and 1.982 million for 4Q13) and the year-ago quarter (8.225 million and 2.155 million for 1Q13) in Total Viewers (+11% and +6%, respectively) and Adults 25-54 (+19% and +10%, respectively). In fact, the ABC evening newscast turned in its most-watched quarter in 6 years and strongest news demo quarter performance in 3 years - since 1Q08 and 1Q11, respectively. "World News" (+10%) grew the most in the demo from the year-ago quarter compared to "CBS Evening News" (up less than +1%) and "NBC Nightly News" (+6%).

During 1Q14, "World News" posted year-to-year increases in 10 of the 13 weeks in Total Viewers and in 11 of 13 in Adults 25-54.

For the 4th year in a row, "World News" narrowed its year-to-year first quarter demo margin by double-digits with "NBC Nightly News" in Adults 25-54 (-25% - 209,000 vs. 280,000) - marking its closest first quarter demo performance with the NBC newscast in 6 years - since 1Q08.

For the quarter, "World News" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 1.123 million Total Viewers and by 378,000 Adults 25-54 viewers, posting its largest news demo quarter lead over the CBS program in 3 years - since 1Q11.

Week of March 24, 2014:

For the week of March 24, 2014, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 8.456 million Total Viewers and a 1.9 rating/8 share/2.284 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the 4th week in a row, "World News" grew year to year in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 25-54 (+13%) - 7.812 million and 2.022 million, respectively, on w/o 3/25/13.

"World News" improved week to week in both Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 25-54 (+9%) - 8.264 million and 2.087 million, respectively, on w/o 3/17/14. In, fact, the ABC broadcast had the greatest gain in the demo compared to last week versus "CBS Evening News" (+7%) and "NBC Nightly News" (+6%).

"World News" ranked No. 1 in Adults 25-54 on Thursday (3/27/13), leading "NBC Nightly News" on the night by +47,000 demo viewers (2.169 million vs. 2.122 million).

"World News" slashed its week-to-week Adults 25-54 margin with "NBC Nightly News" nearly in half (-45% - 87,000 vs. 157,000) to deliver its 2nd-closest demo performance with the NBC newscast this season. Further, fewer than 100,000 Adult 25-54 viewers have separated "World News" and "NBC Nightly News" in 4 of the last 5 weeks.

Season to date, "World News" is up versus the same point last season in both Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 25-54 (+4%), delivering its most-watched season in 5 years and best news demo number in 3 years - since the 2008-09 and the 2010-11 seasons, respectively. "World News" also stands as the only evening newscast to improve its demo performance from the previous season compared to "CBS Evening News" (-5%) and "NBC Nightly News" (flat).

In addition, "World News" is narrowing its season margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Adults 25-54 by double digits (-23% - 246,000 vs. 319,000) compared to its season margin from the same point last year. In fact, cutting its Adults 25-54 gap for the 4th consecutive season, "World News" is seeing its closest news demo performance with the NBC program in 6 years - since the 2007-08 season.

"World News" has nearly doubled its Adults 25-54 lead over "CBS Evening News" versus its year-ago season lead (+97% - 356,000 vs. 181,000).

For the week, "ABC World News" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 889,000 Total Viewers and by 345,000 Adults 25-54.

Note: "CBS Evening News" aired with low coverage and was broken out on Thu 3/27/14 (74%) and Fri 3/28/14 (73%) due to NCAA Basketball and was retitled "CBS-Evening-News;" ratings for both days are excluded from the average. "CBS Evening News" averages are based on 3 days (Mon-Wed), while "World News" and "Nightly News" are based on 5 days.