Lester Holt's Debut as Anchor of NBC NEWS Delivers Across-the-Board Wins
By: Caryn Robbins Jun. 30, 2015
"NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt" was solidly #1 in all categories during Holt's first official week as permanent anchor, posting strong gains across the board week-to-week, versus quarter-to-date levels, and compared to the same week last season.
The NBC broadcast delivered its biggest audience in more than two months (since the week of (4/20/15) and widest total viewer lead over ABC in over three months (since the week of 3/16/2015). Nightly has now been #1 in total viewers for 6 of the last 9 weeks. Nightly also drew its best A25-54 delivery in three months (since the week of 3/23/2015), while both ABC and CBS declined week-to-week. The NBC broadcast posted its biggest demo lead versus ABC since the week of 3/2/2015 and widest gap over CBS since the week of 3/16/2015. Nightly was the only evening newscast to show week-to-week growth, while ABC and CBS were down across the board. Nightly posted gains in total viewers (+7%, or +506,000), A25-54 viewers (+5%, or +95,000), and A18-49 viewers (+7%, or +93,000). Nightly was also the only evening newscast to show total viewer growth versus its quarter average. Compared to 2Q'15 levels, Nightly posted increases in total viewers (+4%, or +281,000), A18-49 viewers (+12%, or +155,000), and A25-54 viewers (+9%, or +161,000).Weekly Highlights:
- Nightly averaged 8.048 million total viewers, +326,000 (+4%) more than ABC WORLD NEWS Tonight and +1,440,000 (22%) ahead of CBS Evening News.
- Nightly averaged 1.970 million A25-54 viewers, leading ABC by +37,000 (+2%) and CBS by +497,000 (+34%).
- Nightly delivered a 1.7 A25-54 rating, +1 tenth more than ABC and +5 tenths more than CBS.
- Nightly averaged 1.432 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +105,000 (+8%) and CBS by +397,000 (+38%).
- Nightly delivered a 1.1 A18-49 rating, +1 tenth ahead of ABC and +3 tenths more than CBS.
Season-to-Date Highlights:
- Nightly is averaging 8.808 million total viewers, outperforming ABC by +4% (+334,000) and CBS by +24% (1.678 million).
- Nightly is averaging 2.090 million A25-54 viewers this season, a statistical tie with ABC (-5,000) and leading CBS by +25% (+422,000).
- Nightly is averaging 1.499 million A18-49 viewers this season, leading ABC by +6% (+83,000) and CBS by +33% (+369,000).
WEEK OF JUNE 22-26, 2015
| Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Ratings | A18-49 Viewers | |
| NBC | 8.048 | 1.65 | 1.970 | 1.13 | 1.432 |
| CBS | 6.608 | 1.23 | 1.473 | 0.82 | 1.035 |
| ABC | 7.722 | 1.62 | 1.933 | 1.04 | 1.327 |
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