“NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT” WINS THE WEEK AGAIN

#1 in Key A25-54 and A18-49 Demos with Biggest Year-Over-Year Growth

Continues to Lead ABC and CBS in Both Demos Season-to-Date

May 14, 2019 – NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the #1 most-watched newscast for the week of May 6, winning the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos, according to Nielsen Media Research. Nightly News also posts the biggest year-over-year growth and is #1 season-to-date in both demos.

Nightly News averages 1.610 million viewers among the A25-54 demo most valued by advertisers, and is up the most among the newscasts compared to the same time last year (+4%).  The broadcast tops CBS by +465,000 and ABC by +23,000. 

Among the younger A18-49 demo, NBC averages 1.089 million viewers, beating CBS by +282,000 and ABC by +23,000, and posts the biggest increases compared to the prior year (+6%).

Holt just sat down for interviews with director Ava DuVarney and all five of the men labeled as the “Central Park Five” for Nightly News’ “Justice for All” series ahead of the Netflix series about their wrongful convictions. And last week, Nightly News featured a broadcast exclusive interview with Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who said he believed Mark Zuckerberg had become “extremely powerful because he has no boss.”

Week of 5/6/19:

Nightly News ranks #1 in A25-54

  • Nightly averaged 1.610 million A25-54 viewers, ahead of ABC by +23,000 (+1%) and leading CBS by +465,000 (+41%)           
  • Nightly saw the greatest growth vs. year ago in the 3NET average
  • Vs. prior year, Nightly viewership was up +69,000 (+4%); ABC was up +3% and CBS was down -0.4%

Nightly News ranks #1 A18-49

  • Nightly averaged 1.089 million A18-49 viewers, leading ABC by +23,000 (+2%) and ahead of CBS by +282,000 (+35%)
  • Nightly saw the greatest growth vs. year ago in the 3NET average
  • Vs. prior year, Nightly saw a viewership increase (+59,000 or +6%) compared to ABC up +5% and CBS down +4%

Week of 5/16/19:

Program P25-54
Imps
P18-49
Imps
P2+
Imps
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS 1.610 1.089 7.486
CBS EVENING NEWS 1.145 .807 5.632
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 1.587 1.066 8.186

2018-2019 Season-to-Date

Nightly News is the #1 evening newscast this season in A25-54 and A18-49

  • Among A25-54 viewers, Nightly leads ABC by +34,000 (+2%) and CBS by +585,000 (+46%)
  • Nightly is #1 among A25-54 viewers at this point of the season for the 11th consecutive season
  • Among A18-49 viewers, Nightly leads ABC by +37,000 (+3%) and CBS by +353,000 (+39%)
  • Nightly is #1 among A18-49 viewers at this point of the season for the 23rd consecutive season

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 NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the most-watched evening newscast in America among the key A25-54 news demo, and reaches over 24 million people every week through its broadcast and millions more through NBCNews.com, the Nightly News app, The Nightly newsletter and social media platforms. The broadcast provides the latest on the day’s top stories, going beyond the headlines to uncover how people’s lives are affected by the world around them. Lester Holt is the anchor, and was named the most-trusted television news personality in America, according to The Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult 2018 survey.  Jennifer Suozzo is the executive producer.

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NBC News contact:

Dana Klinghoffer

dana.klinghoffer@nbcuni.com

212-664-4088