#1 Across Key A25-54 and A18-49 Demos in 1Q’19
Clinches Both Demos for Third Straight Quarter and 15 of Last 16 Quarters
#1 Most-Watched Season to Date in Both Demos
April 2, 2019 – NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the #1 most-watched evening newscast in both the key A25-54 demo and the A18-49 demo for the first quarter of 2019, according to Nielsen Media Research. This marks the broadcast’s third consecutive quarter win, in addition to the 15th quarter win in the last 16 quarters, in both the demo most valued by news advertisers and with younger viewers.
Among A25-54, Nightly News continues its first quarter winning streak for 11 straight years, topping the broadcast networks with 1.96 million A25-54 viewers, leading CBS by +605,000 and ABC by +9,000. Nightly News grows from the previous quarter by +115,000 while improving its demo advantage over CBS by 2%.
Among A18-49, Nightly News is #1 for 23 straight years in the first quarter, winning 44 out of the last 46 quarters. NBC leads in the younger demo with 1.33 million viewers, ahead of CBS by +352,000 and ABC by +19,000, and improves by +74,000 viewers versus the prior quarter.
Nightly News also continues to lead as the #1 most-watched evening newscast season-to-date in both the key demo and A18-49, topping ABC by +40,000 and CBS by +598,000 in A25-54.
Most recently, Holt sat down exclusively with former FBI director James Comey, just days after special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to the Department of Justice. During the prior month, Holt anchored the broadcast from Lee County, Alabama after a deadly hurricane devastated the area and killed over twenty people. Also this quarter, Holt led a special edition of the broadcast live from Hanoi, Vietnam of the U.S.-North Korea summit and Nightly News launched “Justice for All,” a new criminal justice series focusing on unjust sentencing and unreliable convictions.
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First Quarter 2019 Highlights:
Among A25-54 viewers, Nightly News ranked #1 for the third straight quarter and the 15th time in the last 16 quarters.
- Won the first quarter among demo viewers for 11 consecutive years.
- Averaged 1.957 million A25-54 viewers, +9,000 (+0.4%) more than ABC and +605,000 (+45%) higher than CBS.
- Versus prior quarter, Nightly News’ A25-54 viewership increased by +115,000 while its demo lead over CBS improved by 2%.
Nightly News ranked #1 among A18-49 viewers for the third consecutive quarter and the 44th time in the last 46 quarters.
- #1 evening newscast among A18-49 viewers during 1Q for 23 consecutive years.
- Averaged 1.329 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +19,000 (+2%) and CBS by +352,000 (+36%).
- Versus prior quarter, Nightly News added +74,000 A18-49 viewers.
Nightly News averaged 8.631 million total viewers, – +2.063 million (+31%) ahead of CBS
- Versus prior quarter, Nightly News’ total viewership was up +264,000
- Compared to 1Q 2018, Nightly News’ total viewer advantage over CBS improved by 3%
Season-to-Date Highlights:
- Nightly News ranks #1 among A25-54 viewers (+40,000 vs. ABC, +598,000 vs. CBS)
- Ranks #1 among A18-49 viewers (+45,000 vs. ABC, +368,000 vs. CBS)
- Nightly News’ total viewer lead over CBS is 10% higher than the same point last season
First Quarter 2019:
| Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Rating | A18-49 Viewers | |
| NBC | 8.631 | 1.62 | 1.957 | 1.03 | 1.329 |
| CBS | 6.568 | 1.12 | 1.352 | 0.76 | 0.977 |
| ABC | 9.275 | 1.61 | 1.948 | 1.02 | 1.310 |
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NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the most-watched evening newscast in America among the key news demo for the past 22 seasons. The broadcast provides the very latest on the day’s top stories going beyond the headlines to uncover 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 Jenn Suozzo is the executive producer.
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NBC News contact:
Dana Klinghoffer
212-664-4088
