AMID UNFOLDING CRISIS IN CAPITOL, MORE THAN 10 MILLION VIEWERS TURN TO ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ - LEADING ACROSS THE BOARD IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49 FOR THE WEEK
‘World News Tonight’ Grows in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Week to Week and Year to Year
ABC News’ “World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the evening’s No. 1 newscast in Total Viewers (10.127 million), Adults 25-54 (2.116 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.584 million) for the week of Jan. 4, 2021, based on Live + Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. “World News Tonight” led “NBC Nightly News” (8.566 million, 1.766 million and 1.239 million, respectively) by 1.561 million Total Viewers, by 350,000 Adults 25-54 and by 345,000 Adults 18-49. “World News Tonight” posted its most-watched week in 8 months and best Adults 18-49 in nearly 9 months – since weeks of 5/4/20 and 4/13/20, respectively.
“World News Tonight” ranked as the evening’s No. 1 newscast for the last 41 weeks in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49. In addition, “World News Tonight” has won the last 111 weeks overall in Total Viewers.
“World News Tonight” grew across the board week to week and year to year. “World News Tonight” saw week to week increases in Total Viewers (+381,000/+4% - 10.127 million vs. 9.746 million), Adults 25-54 (+188,000/+10% - 2.116 million vs. 1.928 million) and Adults 18-49 (+184,000/+13% - 1.584 million vs. 1.400 million). “World News Tonight” turned in gains on the same week last year in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+418,000/+4% - 10.127 million vs. 9.709 million), Adults 25-54 (+77,000/+4% - 2.116 million vs. 2.039 million) and Adults 18-49 (+182,000/+13% - 1.584 million vs. 1.402 million).
“World News Tonight” increased its lead over NBC week to week in Total Viewers (+44% – 1.561 million vs. 1.081 million), Adults 25-54 (+138% - 350,000 vs. 147,000) and Adults 18-49 (+163% - 345,000 vs. 131,000), posting its largest advantages in both key adult demos in 8 months – since weeks of 4/13/20 and 3/30/20, respectively.
“World News Tonight” widened its margins with NBC on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+34% – 1.561 million vs. 1.169 million), Adults 25-54 (+65% - 350,000 vs. 212,000) and Adults 18-49 (+235% - 345,000 vs. 103,000).
On Wednesday (1/6/21), “World News Tonight” delivered its strongest single telecast numbers in Adults 25-54 (2.534 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.039 million) in 9 months – since 4/16/20 and 4/3/20, respectively.
Season to date, “World News Tonight” (9.493 million) ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers at this point of the season for the 5th consecutive year, based on Most Current Data. In fact, “World News Tonight” is nearly doubling its lead over “NBC Nightly News” (8.018 million) from the same point last season (+97% - 1.475 million vs. 748,000) to its largest season lead in 26 years—since the 1994-1995 season. “World News Tonight” is beating “CBS Evening News” (5.878 million) by 3.615 million, posting its biggest Total Viewer season advantage in at least 29 years (since at least the start of Nielsen electronic database in the 1991-1992 season).
After winning the 2019-20 season, “World News Tonight” is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 2nd season in a row. “World News Tonight” is leading NBC by its largest news demo margin (+239,000 - 1.861 million vs. 1.622 million) in 25 years—since the 1995-1996 season. “World News Tonight” is beating NBC in Adults 18-49 (+186,000 - 1.322 million vs. 1.136 million) for the first time at this point of a season in 24 years with its largest lead in 26 years—since the 1996-1997 and the 1994-1995 seasons, respectively.
“World News Tonight” also leads “CBS Evening News” by its biggest advantage in 16 years in Adults 25-54 (+753,000 – 1.861 million vs. 1.108 million) and in Adults 18-49 (+513,000 – 1.322 million vs. 809,000) – since the 2004-2005 season.
In addition, “World News Tonight” is improving in Total Viewers (+793,000/+9% - 9.493 million vs. 8.700 million), Adults 25-54 (+164,000/+10% - 1.861 million vs. 1.697 million) and Adults 18-49 (+162,000/+14% - 1.322 million vs. 1.160 million), compared to the same point last season. In fact, “World News Tonight” is seeing its most-watched season in 17 years and strongest Adults 25-54 performance in 3 years—since the 2003-2004 and the 2017-2018 seasons, respectively.
For the week, “World News Tonight” (10.127 million, 2.116 million and 1.584 million, respectively) outpaced “CBS Evening News” (7.512 million, 1.640 million and 1.249 million, respectively) by 2.615 million Total Viewers, by 476,000 Adults 25-54 and by 335,000 Adults 18-49.
NOTE: On Wednesday (1/6/21), “NBC Nightly News” was preempted for an NBC special report. NBC’s weekly averages are based on four days (Mon-Tues and Thurs-Fri).
ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” airs 6:30-7:00 p.m. EST on ABC. Almin Karamehmedovic is the executive producer of the broadcast.
EVENING NEWS (Week of Jan. 4, 2021):
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o ¼/21), Previous Week (w/o 12/28/20) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/6/20). Most Current: 2020 -2021 Season (9/21/20-1/10/21) and 2019-2020 Season (9/23/13-1/12/20). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.
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