ABC's WORLD NEWS Improves Weekly in Key Demo

For the week of March 10, 2014, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 8.059 million Total Viewers and a 1.8 rating/7 share/2.100 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the 2nd straight week, "World News" posted gains on the year-ago week in both Total Viewers (+12%) and Adults 25-54 (+12%) - 7.193 million and 1.873 million, respectively, on w/o 3/11/13. Delivering year-to-year news demo increases in 7 of the last 8 weeks, the ABC evening newscast improved the most year-to-year in Adults 25-54 compared to "CBS Evening News" (-7%) and "NBC Nightly News" (+6%).

"World News" ranked No. 1 in Adults 25-54 on Friday (3/14/13), leading "NBC Nightly News" on the night by +75,000 demo viewers (1.793 million vs. 1.718 million).

For the 4th week in a row, "World News" cut its week-to-week Total Viewer gap with "NBC Nightly News" (-20% - 960,000 vs. 1.193 million) to hit its closest overall viewer performance with the NBC program in 7 weeks - since w/o 1/20/14.

"World News" narrowed its year-to-year Adults 25-54 margin with "NBC Nightly News" by double-digits (-53% - 99,000 vs. 210,000) for the 3rd week running. In fact, less than 100,000 Adult 25-54 viewers have separated "World News" and "NBC Nightly News" for the last 3 weeks (77,000 for w/o 3/3/14; 92,000 for w/o 2/24/14).

Season to date, "World News" is up versus the same point last season in both Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 25-54 (+3%), 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" (-6%) 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% - 259,000 vs. 337,000) 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 more than doubled its Adults 25-54 lead over "CBS Evening News" versus its year-ago season lead (+101% - 355,000 vs. 177,000).

For the week, "ABC World News" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 1.410 million Total Viewers and by 448,000 Adults 25-54, turning in its largest overall viewer advantage in 10 weeks - since w/o 12/30/13.

Note: For the first week of Daylight Saving Time, the 6:30p-7p Households Using Television (HUT) levels were down -6% week to week, while the People Using Television (PUT) levels among Adults 25-54 were down -11%.

"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 10, 2014)

TOTAL VIEWERS ADULTS 25-54 ADULTS 18-49 HOUSEHOLDS
ABC WORLD NEWS 8,059,000 1.8/7; 2,100,000 1.2/6; 1,483,000 5.4/11
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS 9,019,000 1.8/8; 2,199,000 1.3/6; 1,673,000 6.0/12
CBS EVENING NEWS 6,649,000 1.4/6; 1,652,000 0.9/4; 1,109,000 4.6/ 9
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 3/10/14, 3/3/14 and 3/11/13. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 3/9/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 3/10/13).

Need more TV Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...