‘Nightly News’ Hits 7 Week High in Key Demos, Marks Closest A25-54 Gap vs. ABC Since January
Narrows Across-the-Board Gaps vs. ABC in All Measurements
Week of May 19 Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow across the board in week-over-week and year-over-year measurements
- Nightly News marks its closest A25-54 gap vs. ABC since January
- Nightly News closes across-the-board gaps vs. ABC in all measurements
- Nightly News is the #4 most-watched show of the week with 5.744 million total viewers (LS, excluding specials, sports & syndication)
Week of May 19 Ratings Stats
- Averages 5.744 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 1.814 million (+46%)
- Nightly News increases total viewer audience by +280,000 in week-over-week measurements
- Nightly News is the only newscast to grow vs. last year, up +51,000
- Week over week, Nightly News narrows the total viewership gap vs. ABC by 4%
- Year over year, Nightly News closes the total viewership gap vs. ABC by 6%
- Averages 872,000 A25-54 viewers, topping CBS by +317,000 (+57%)
- Nightly News is the only newscast to grow vs. last year, +74,000
- Nightly News increases A25-54 viewership by +96,000
- Averages 583,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +187,000 (+47%)
- Year over year, Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 7%
- Week over week, Nightly News narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 3%
MAY 2025 RATINGS: NBC NIGHTLY NEWS IS ONLY EVENING NEWSCAST TO GROW IN KEY DEMOS
‘Nightly News’ Increases A25-54 & A18-49 Viewership Vs. Last Year
Marks Closest A25-54 Gap vs. ABC Since September 2024, Most Narrow Total Viewer Gap vs. ABC in Six Months
Closes Across-the-Board Gaps vs. ABC in Month-over-Month Measurements
May 2025: Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow in the key A25-54 & A18-49 demos vs. last year, +14,000 in A25-54 and +10,000 in A18-49
- Nightly News marks its most narrow A25-54 gap vs. ABC since September and its closest total viewer gap vs. the network since November
- Nightly News closes the competitive gap vs. ABC by double digits across the board vs. last month
- Nightly News narrows A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 31% in year-over-year measurements
- Nightly News is the #6 most-watched program in all of TV for the month, averaging 5.677 million viewers, excluding specials, sports & syndication
May 2025: Ratings Stats
- Averages 5.677 million total viewers, topping CBS by +1.957 million (+53%),
- Closes total viewer gap vs. ABC by 2% in month-over-month measurements
- Averages 824,000 A25-54 viewers, topping CBS by +318,000 (+63%)
- Nightly News is the only newscast up vs. prior year, +14,000
- In month-over-month & year-over-year, Nightly News closes the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 31%
- Averages 535,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +171,000 (+47%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. prior year, +10,000
- In month-over-month, Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 12%
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WEEK of MAY 19-25, 2025
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 872 | 583 | 5,744 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 555 | 396 | 3,930 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 969 | 708 | 7,179 |
Source: Nielsen Panel, L+SD, 5/19/2025-5/25/2025. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only. Note: All three programs were retitled on Friday due to the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
MAY 2025
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 824 | 535 | 5,677 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 506 | 364 | 3,720 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 949 | 676 | 7,108 |
Source: Nielsen Panel, L+SD, 4/28/2025-5/25/2025. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
