#1 Most Watched Season-to-Date in Key Demo
Biggest Key Demo Win Over ABC in 13 Weeks
AUGUST 21, 2018 – NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the #1 most-watched evening broadcast in the key news demo for the week of August 13, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Nightly News continues as the #1 most-watched evening newscast season-to-date in the key demo, and has finished #1 in the key demo six out of the last seven weeks. Last week was Nightly News’ biggest key demo win over ABC in 13 weeks.
The broadcast continues its strong performance in the key demo, growing week-over-week and averaging 1.6 million A25-54 viewers. The broadcast bested ABC World News Tonight by +92,000 viewers (+6%) and CBS Evening News by +505,000 viewers (+45%).
Last week in an exclusive interview with Holt, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended the social media platform’s seven-day “timeout” for Infowars’ Alex Jones. Dorsey told Holt that suspensions like the one handed down to Jones “makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors.”
7.4 million total viewers tuned in to Nightly News for the week of August 13, leading CBS Evening News by 1.9 million total viewers (+33%).
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Weekly Highlights:
- Nightly News averaged 1.6 million A25-54 viewers, outperforming ABC by +92,000 viewers (+6%) and CBS by +505,000 (+45%).
- Nightly News averaged 1.1 million A18-49 viewers, topping CBS by +295,000 (+38%).
- Nightly News improved its demo viewer advantage over ABC by 18% (+14,000) vs. the prior week, its best advantage over ABC since 5/14/2018
- Nightly News grew its audience week-over-week across the board.
- Nightly News averaged 7.4 million total viewers, beating CBS by +1.9 million (+33%).
Season Highlights:
- Nightly News is the #1 evening newscast this season in A25-54 and A18-49.
- Nightly News holds its largest A25-54 demo advantage over CBS in six seasons.
Week of August 13 – August 17, 2018:
| Total Viewers | A25-54 Rating | A25-54 Viewers | A18-49 Rating | A18-49 Viewers | |
| NBC | 7.413 | 1.35 | 1.624 | 0.84 | 1.082 |
| CBS | 5.558 | 0.93 | 1.119 | 0.61 | 0.787 |
| ABC | 7.989 | 1.27 | 1.532 | 0.84 | 1.088 |
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ABOUT NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the most-watched evening newscast in America, providing the very latest on the day’s top stories and going beyond the headlines to add context and analysis to the most pressing issues of our times. NBC Nightly News reaches more than 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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For more information contact:
TJ Ducklo
NBC News
212-664-1913
