Nightly News Is Only Evening Newscast Up Across the Board from the Same Week Last Year
The NBC News Broadcast Ranks #1 in A25-54 and A18-49 for 71 of the last 72 Weeks
Nightly News Improved its Demo Advantage over ABC for the Third Straight Week
NEW YORK (December 13, 2016) – “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” ranked #1 across the board for the week of December 5, averaging 9.2 million total viewers, leading “ABC World News Tonight” by +69,000 viewers and “CBS Evening News” by 1.562 million viewers (+21%). Compared to the same week last season, Nightly News was the only evening newscast to grow across the board, adding +200,000 total viewers (+2%), +126,000 A25-54 viewers (+6%) and +101,000 A18-49 viewers (+6%).
Nightly News continues its dominance in the demo, averaging 2.3 million A25-54 viewers for the week, leading ABC by +364,000 (+19%) and CBS by +589,000 (+35%). Compared to the same week last season, Nightly News increased its leads over both ABC (by 74%) and CBS (by 37%). Nightly News also improved its A25-54 advantage over ABC for the third straight week, hitting its highest level since the week of October 3, 2016.
Among A18-49, Nightly News averaged 1.7 million viewers for the week, topping ABC by +354,000 (+27%) and CBS by + 506,000 (+43%). Excluding the Rio Olympics, this was Nightly’s widest A18-49 advantage over ABC in more than a year (week of November 16, 2015). The NBC News broadcast has ranked #1 in A25-54 and A18-49 for 71 of the last 72 weeks.
Due to NFL football, Nightly News is based on a four-day average (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday) while CBS and ABC are based on five-day averages.
Weekly Highlights:
- Nightly News ranked #1 across the board, averaging 9.182 million total viewers, leading “ABC World News Tonight” by +69,000 (+1%) viewers and “CBS Evening News” by 1.562 million viewers (+21%).
- Compared to the same week last season, Nightly News added +200,000 total viewers (+2%).
- Nightly News averaged 2.291 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming ABC by +364,000 (+19%) and CBS by +589,000 (+35%).
- Nightly News has ranked #1 in A25-54 and A18-49 for 71 of the past 72 weeks.
- Nightly News improved its A25-54 advantage over ABC for the third straight week, hitting its highest level since the week of October 3, 2016.
- Compared to the same week last season, Nightly News was the only broadcast to post growth among A25-54 viewers (+126,000, or +6%) while increasing its leads over both ABC (by 74%) and CBS (by 37%).
- Nightly News averaged 1.688 million A18-49 viewers, topping ABC by +354,000 (+27%) and CBS by +506,000 (+43%).
- Excluding the Rio Olympics, this was Nightly’s widest A18-49 advantage over ABC since the week of November 16, 2015.
Season Highlights:
- Nightly News is having its best A25-54 advantages to start a season over ABC and CBS in three years (2013-14).
- Versus last season, Nightly News has increased its A25-54 lead over ABC by 37% (+256,000 vs +187,000 last year).
Week of December 5 – December 9, 2016:
| Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Rating | A18-49 Viewers | |
| NBC | 9.182 | 1.91 | 2.291 | 1.32 | 1.688 |
| CBS | 7.620 | 1.42 | 1.702 | 0.92 | 1.182 |
| ABC | 9.113 | 1.60 | 1.927 | 1.04 | 1.334 |
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ABOUT NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT
“NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” is America’s most-watched evening newscast, going beyond the day’s headlines to uncover stories of how people’s lives are affected by the world around them. “NBC Nightly News” reaches over 24 million people every week through its broadcast and millions more through NBCNews.com, the “Nightly News” app, and social media platforms. Lester Holt is the anchor and Sam Singal is the executive producer.
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For more information contact:
Jake Urbanski
NBC News
212-664-3211
