‘Nightly News’ Averages Over 7 Million Viewers & Ranks As a Top-5 Most-Watched Program for Majority of the Year
For 4Q’21, ‘Nightly News’ Delivers Best Quarterly Total Viewers Ratings Vs. ABC Since 2019 — and is the Only Evening Newscast to Grow Across the Board Vs. Last Quarter
Season to Date, ‘Nightly News’ Improves Competitive Position Vs. ABC by 27% in Total Viewers vs. Same Time Period Last Year
Dec. 29, 2021 – Throughout 2021, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt made across-the-board, double-digit percentage ratings gains versus ABC World News Tonight, cutting the year-over-year total viewership gap by nearly half since Dec. 2020, according to Nielsen Media Research. NBC’s flagship evening newscast averaged over 7 million viewers and ranked as a top five program in all of television for the majority of the year.
Nightly News also averaged 1.3 million A25-54 viewers for the year, and improved the key A25-54 demo gap versus ABC by nearly 40% since March 2021.
For the fourth quarter, Nightly News was the only newscast to grow across the board compared to the prior quarter. Nightly News also saw the largest increases in total viewers and A25-54 viewers compared to the other evening newscasts versus 3Q’21.
Additionally, Nightly News delivered its best quarterly total viewership versus ABC since 4Q’19 and its best quarterly key A25-54 demo viewership versus ABC since 3Q’20. Compared to the last quarter, Nightly News improved in total viewers versus ABC by 18% and versus CBS by 16%.
Season to date, Nightly News also improved its competitive position versus ABC by 27% in total viewers compared to the same time last year.
2021 Highlights on Broadcast & Digital
· NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt made double-digit percentage ratings gains vs. ABC World News Tonight in 2021, cutting the year-over-year total viewership gap by nearly half (+44%) since Dec. 2020 (1.705 million gap in Dec. 2020 vs. 948k gap in Dec. 2021.)
· Nightly News improved the key A25-54 demo gap vs. ABC by nearly 40% since March 2021 (389k gap in March 2021 vs. 239k gap in Dec. 2021.)
· Nightly News ranked as a top-5 most-watched program on TV for the majority of weeks in 2021 (L+SD, excluding sports, specials, and syndication.)
· Both the Saturday and Sunday editions of Nightly News were the #1 weekend evening newscasts among the key A25-54 demo for the year. Saturday’s Nightly News was also #1 in total viewers for the 26th consecutive year.
· Nightly News topped CBS Evening News in the key A25-54 demo for the 28th consecutive year; in A18-49 for the 33rd straight year; and in total viewers for the 27th straight year.
· Across digital, the newscast saw one of its three strongest years on record, with more than 75 million monthly video views on & off network digital platforms, up more than +45% vs. 2019. Nightly News also reached more than 50 million video views every month since 2020, and on YouTube, average episodes reached more than one million video views and 835,00 video viewers. [Digital ratings source: Adobe Analytics, DAVD & Partner Portals (YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo & AOL)]
4Q’21
- Nightly News was the only newscast to grow across the board compared to the prior quarter – +8% in total viewers, +4% in A25-54, and +5% in A18-49. Nightly News also saw the largest increases in total viewers and A25-54 viewers compared to the other evening newscasts.
- Nightly News delivered its best quarterly total viewership versus ABC since 4Q’19 and its best quarterly key A25-54 demo viewership vs. ABC since 3Q’20. Nightly News also improved in total viewers by 27% vs. ABC compared to 4Q’20.
- Compared to 3Q’21, Nightly News improved in total viewers vs. ABC by 18% and versus CBS by 16%.
NIELSEN YEAR-LONG TREND CHARTS
Source: Nielsen NNTV, LS, regularly-titled telecasts, broadcast quarters.
BROADCAST YEAR 2021
4Q’21
NOTE: Nielsen Ratings now reflect the addition of Out of Home (OOH) viewership that began being measured on Aug. 31,2020 across only 44 markets tracked by Nielsen Media Research.
NBC Nightly News, World News Tonight and CBS Evening News’ ratings are comprised of telecasts with regular titling and include overnight airings on owned stations. World News Tonight’s ratings also include 3:30pm airings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt reaches nearly 30 million people every week through its broadcast and millions more through NBCNews.com, the Nightly News app, the Nightly newsletter, Nightly Films, its podcast 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 named the “most-trusted television news personality in America,” according to the most recent The Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult survey. Holt also anchors Nightly News: Kids Edition. Meghan Rafferty is the executive producer.
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