ABC News' "World News Tonight with David Muir" ranked No. 1 in Adults 25-54 (2.145 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.445 million) during the week of March 23, 2015, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. "World News Tonight" led "NBC Nightly News" (2.044 million) by 101,000 news demo viewers to win for the 3rd week in a row and by its largest lead in 12 weeks - since w/o 12/29/14. Overall, "World News Tonight" has won 13 weeks season to date.
NOTE: *NBC's stated averages include both its 6:30 p.m. E.T. airings and re-broadcasts on some stations between the hours of 2-4 a.m. E.T.
NBC News has not publicly stated the markets in which the re-airs occur nor how many additional viewers they are claiming as a result.
"World News Tonight" scored across-the-board increases versus the prior week (7.957 million, 1.941 million and 1.315 million, respectively, for w/o 3/16/15): Total Viewers (+8%), Adults 25-54 (+11%) and Adults 18-49 (+10%). In fact, "World News Tonight" is up the most week to week in all three measures compared to "CBS Evening News" (-3%/+4%/-9%, respectively) and "NBC Nightly News" (+2%/+6%/+2%, respectively).
"World News Tonight" built on its Total Viewer count year to year by 4% (8.597 million vs. 8.236 million on w/o 3/24/14) to stand as the only evening newscast to grow its overall audience while "CBS Evening News" (-11%) and "NBC Nightly News" (-10%) were each down by double digits.
"World News Tonight" ranked as the No. 1 newscast on Monday, beating "NBC Nightly News," in all 3 measures: Total Viewers (+562,000 - 9.108 million vs. 8.546 million), Adults 25-54 (+490,000 - 2.448 million vs. 1.958 million) and Adults 18-49 (+420,000 - 1.728 million vs. 1.308 million). In fact, "World News Tonight's" Monday airing stood as the week's No. 1 telecast in both key adult demos.
"World News Tonight" slashed Total Viewer margins with "NBC Nightly News" by more than three-quarters both week to week (-80% - 112,000 vs. 561,000) and year to year (-92% - 112,000 vs. 1.424 million).
"World News Tonight" is averaging 504,000 more viewers, season to date, compared to the same time frame last season (8.806 million vs. 8.302 million), while "NBC Nightly News" is posting a 197,000 average loss (9.325 million vs. 9.522 million). For the 2nd year in a row, "World News Tonight" is improving versus the same point last season in both Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 25-54 (+2%). "World News Tonight" is averaging its largest overall viewer audience in 7 years and strongest in the key adult news demo in 4 years - since the 2007-08 and the 2010-11 seasons, respectively. In addition, "World News Tonight" is improving the most in Total Viewers and standing as the only evening newscast to grow in Adults 25-54 compared to "CBS Evening News" (+2%/-2%) and "NBC Nightly News" (-2%/-8%).
Season to date, "World News Tonight" has slashed nearly all of its season margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Adults 25-54 (-89% - 29,000 vs. 259,000), delivering its closest news demo performance with the
NBC program in 7 years - since the 2007-08 season. In addition, "World News Tonight" cut its season gaps with "NBC Nightly News" by more than half in Total Viewers (-57% - 519,000 vs. 1.220 million) and Adults 18-49 (-56% - 129,000 vs. 294,000) to its closest performances in 7 years in both measures - since the 2007-08 season.
For the week, "World News Tonight" outperformed the "CBS Evening News" by 1.858 million Total Viewers, by 667,000 Adults 25-54 and by 516,000 Adults 18-49, registering its largest news demo lead in more than 4 years and best in Adults 18-49 in over 6 years - since weeks of 12/27/10 and 2/23/09, respectively.
