ABC's WORLD NEWS Delivers Top Newscast in Key Demo for Second Consecutive Friday

For the week of March 17, 2014, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 8.264 million Total Viewers and a 1.7 rating/7 share/2.087 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the 3rd consecutive week, "World News" improved on the year-earlier week in both Total Viewers (+5%) and Adults 25-54 (+5%) - 7.847 million and 1.984 million, respectively, on w/o 3/18/13. In fact, the ABC evening newscast has turned in year-to-year news demo growth in 8 of the last 9 weeks

"World News" was also up by 3% in Total Viewers from the prior week (8.264 million vs. 8.059 million on w/o 3/10/14), posting week-to-week improvement for the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks.

"World News" ranked No. 1 in Adults 25-54 for the 2nd straight Friday (3/21/13), leading "NBC Nightly News" on the night by +31,000 demo viewers (1.797 million vs. 1.766 million).

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% - 254,000 vs. 330,000) 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 (+99% - 352,000 vs. 177,000).

For the week, "ABC World News" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 1.150 million Total Viewers and by 272,000 Adults 25-54.

Note: "CBS Evening News" aired with low coverage and was broken out on Thu 3/20/14 (75%) and Fri 3/21/14 (74%) due to NCAA Basketball and was retitled "CBS-Evening-Nws;" 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.

"ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" airs at 6:30 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network. Michael Corn is the executive producer of the broadcast. Follow Diane Sawyer and the "World News" team online: @DianeSawyer; @ABCWorldNews; facebook.com/DianeSawyer; facebook.com/WorldNews.

EVENING NEWS (Week of March 17, 2014)

TOTAL VIEWERS ADULTS 25-54 ADULTS 18-49 HOUSEHOLDS
ABC WORLD NEWS 8,264,000 1.7/7; 2,087,000 1.1/5; 1,433,000 5.5/11
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS 9,314,000 1.9/7; 2,244,000 1.3/6; 1,643,000 6.2/12
CBS EVENING NEWS 7,114,000 1.5/6; 1,815,000 1.0/4; 1,260,000 4.7/ 9
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 3/17/14, 3/10/14 and 3/18/13. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 3/23/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 3/24/13).

Don't Miss a TV News Story Sign up for all the news on the Fall season, discounts & more...