NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH LESTER HOLT WINS THE WEEK

Thursday’s Newscast Is the #1 Most-Watched Program on Television in A25-54 Last Week

 Up the Most Across-the-Board Vs. Prior Year – +94% in A25-54, +110% in A18-49 and +53% in Total Viewers

Also Claims 5 Out of the Top 6 Shows in Key Demo for the Week

WEEK OF 3/16/20

  • NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt is the #1 most-watched newscast as it continues to cover the coronavirus pandemic – #1 in the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos, according to Nielsen Media Research. (see the below Nielsen chart)
  • Nightly’s Thursday broadcast is the #1 television program in America for the week in the key A25-54 demo. Additionally, Nightly’s full week of programs make up five out of the top six shows in the demo. (see the below Nielsen chart)
  • Nightly is up the most across the board vs. the prior year – +94% in A25-54, +110% in A18-49 and +53%.

A25-54: Nightly averages 3.262 million A25-54 viewers, ahead of ABC by +380,000 (+13%) and CBS by +1.613 (+98%)   

  • Nightly has its highest A25-54 viewership since the week of July 30, 2012; best advantage over ABC in 110 weeks (since week of 2/5/2018)
  • Vs. prior year, Nightly delivers viewership increase – up +1.584 million (+94%) while ABC is up +66% and CBS is up +30%

A18-49: Nightly averages 2.380 million A18-49 viewers, ahead of ABC by +330,000 (+16%) and CBS by +1.180 million (+98%)

  • Nightly has its best advantage over ABC in 117 weeks (since week of 12/18/2017)
  • Vs. prior year, Nightly posts viewership increase – up +1.249 million (+110%) while ABC is up +77% and CBS is up +29%

Total Viewers: Nightly averages 12.006 million total viewers, leading CBS by +4.404 million (+58%)

  • Nightly has its highest total viewership since the week of January 3, 2005
  • Vs. prior year, Nightly delivers a viewership increase of +4.141 (+53%) while ABC is up +46% and CBS is up +21%

EVENING NEWSCAST RATINGS VS. PRIOR YEAR

  Total Viewers A25-54
03/16/2020-03/22/2020 (000) vs. PY (000) vs. PY
NBC Nightly News 12,006 +53% 3,262 +94%
ABC World News Tonight 12,545 +46% 2,882 +66%
CBS Evening News 7,602 +21% 1,649 +30%
3NET 32,154 +42% 7,793 +67%

Note: NBC Nightly NewsWorld News Tonight and CBS Evening News’ ratings are comprised of telecasts with regular titling and include overnight airings on owned stations. Nightly News’ ratings include 7:30pm airings across some owned stations whileWorld News Tonight’s ratings include 3:30pm airings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

TOP 25 SHOWS FOR THE WEEK, RANKED BY A25-54 and P2+ (excluding syndication)

P25-54
 1  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/19/2020  3549
 2  MASKED SINGER, THE  FOX  03/18/2020  3323
 3  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/16/2020  3288
 4  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/18/2020  3239
 5  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/17/2020  3103
 5  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/20/2020  3103
 7  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/16/2020  3065
 8  VOICE  NBC  03/16/2020  3017
 9  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/19/2020  3001
 10  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/18/2020  2835
 11  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/20/2020  2753
 12  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/17/2020  2745
 13  SURVIVOR  CBS  03/18/2020  2686
 14  THIS IS US  NBC  03/17/2020  2422
 15  GREY’S ANATOMY  ABC  03/19/2020  2378
 16  9-1-1  FOX  03/16/2020  2335
 17  AMERICAN IDOL-SUN  ABC  03/22/2020  2331
 18  CONNERS  ABC  03/17/2020  2261
 19  CHICAGO FIRE  NBC  03/18/2020  2214
 20  CHICAGO MED  NBC  03/18/2020  2205
 21  STATION 19  ABC  03/19/2020  2143
 22  60 MINUTES  CBS  03/22/2020  2139
 23  ELLENS GAME OF GAMES  NBC  03/17/2020  2108
 24  NEIGHBORHOOD  CBS  03/16/2020  2080
 25  CHICAGO PD  NBC  03/18/2020  1969
P2+
 1  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/16/2020  12872
 2  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/19/2020  12817
 3  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/19/2020  12754
 4  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/17/2020  12446
 5  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/18/2020  12383
 6  ABC WORLD NEWS MF  ABC  03/20/2020  12181
 7  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/18/2020  11911
 8  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/20/2020  11904
 9  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/17/2020  11706
 10  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS M-F  NBC  03/16/2020  11698
 11  60 MINUTES  CBS  03/22/2020  10895
 12  VOICE  NBC  03/16/2020  9979
 13  CHICAGO MED  NBC  03/18/2020  9173
 14  CHICAGO FIRE  NBC  03/18/2020  9017
 15  ABC WLD NEWS-SA-ERLY  ABC  03/21/2020  8644
 16  MASKED SINGER, THE  FOX  03/18/2020  8010
 17  SURVIVOR  CBS  03/18/2020  7830
 18  CBS EVENING NEWS  CBS  03/16/2020  7771
 19  CBS EVENING NEWS  CBS  03/18/2020  7747
 20  AMERICAN IDOL-SUN  ABC  03/22/2020  7692
 21  NBC NIGHTLY NEWS-SAT.  NBC  03/21/2020  7687
 22  CBS EVENING NEWS  CBS  03/19/2020  7606
 23  CHICAGO PD  NBC  03/18/2020  7503
 24  CBS EVENING NEWS  CBS  03/17/2020  7472
 25  NCIS: LA  CBS  03/22/2020  7438