“NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” is Only Evening Newscast to Grow Across the Board in Year-Over-Year & Week-Over-Week Measurements

‘Nightly News’  Marks Closest A25-54 Gap vs. ABC Since January

Ranks as #1 Evening Newscast in Key Demo on Friday

Week of March 3 Ratings Highlights

  • Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow across the board vs. last year, up +17,000 in total viewers, +34,000 in A25-54 and +42,000 in A18-49
  • Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow across the board vs. last week, up +21,000 in total viewers, +12,000 in A25-54 and +4,000 in A18-49
  • Nightly News marks closest A25-54 gap vs. ABC since 1/27/25, narrowing the gap vs. last year by 39%
  • Nightly News is the #1 evening newscast in the key A25-54 demo on Friday, topping ABC by +26,000
  • Nightly News closes total viewer gap vs. ABC vs. last week by 3%
  • Nightly News is the #4 most-watched show of the week with 6.393 million total viewers (LS, excluding specials, sports & syndication

Week of March 3 Ratings Stats 

  • Averages 6.393 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 2.015 million (+46%)
    • Nightly News increases total viewership vs. last year by +17,000 and last week by +21,000 
    • Week over week, Nightly News narrows the total viewership gap vs. ABC by 3%
  • Averages  952,000 A25-54 viewers, topping CBS by +329,000 (+53%)
    • Nightly News increases A25-54 viewership vs. last year by +34,000 and last week by +12,000 
    • Week over week, Nightly closes A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 16%
    • Year over year, Nightly narrows A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 39%
  • Averages 637,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +224,000 (+54%)
    • Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last week by +4,000 and last year by +42,000
    • Year over year, Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 6%

WEEK of MARCH 3-9, 2025

ProgramP25-54P25-54P18-49P18-49P2+
RtgImpsRtgImpsImps
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS0.779520.486376,393
CBS EVENING NEWS0.516230.314134,378
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT0.861,0640.597867,891

Source: Nielsen Panel, L+SD, 3/3/2025-3/9/2025. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only. Note: Al three programs were retitled on Tuesday due to Pres. Trump’s Joint Address to Congress coverage. CBS Evening News retitled on Friday.