Evening News Ratings

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” holds a 1.3 million viewer lead on “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” which has a 1.2 million viewer lead on the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.”

Compared to the same week last year all three broadcasts are down in younger viewers and only the “CBS Evening News” grew in Total Viewers: +2%. The Friday of the week of March 7, 2011 saw the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Numbers for the week of March 5, 2012:

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” remains far outfront, but the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” continues to be the horse to watch. “Evening News” added more 800,000 viewers from the same week last year, +14%. The Pelley broadcast is also growing among younger viewers, +13%. “Nightly” was also up compared to last year +4% in Total Viewers, but down in younger viewers. “World News with Diane Sawyer” is down in both categories, -8% in total viewers and -7% in younger viewers.

Season-to-date, the “CBS Evening News” is the only network evening newscast to post a year-to-year ratings increases in households (+5%), Total Viewers (+5%) and A25-54 viewers (+7%).

Compared to February 2011 sweep, which was heavy with coverage from the Arab Spring, all three newscasts are down. Those numbers after the jump.

Numbers for the week of February 27, 2012:

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During the week of Feb. 13, the “CBS Evening News” overtook “ABC World News” in the adults 25-54 demo, and while it was close again this week, ABC was able to regain second place in both total and demo viewers.

“NBC Nightly News” remained the top network evening news program in both total viewers and adults 25-54 by a substantial margin.

All three programs were down in total viewers compared to the same week last year, when the situation in Libya flared up and began to appear on U.S. TV. In the demo, CBS was up slightly, while NBC and ABC were down.

Numbers for the week of February 20, 2012:

We share the weekend Evening News Ratings scoreboards every Tuesday, but we don’t often get a chance to share numbers for the weekend shows. So here goes.

Like its weekday counterpart, “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” is firmly locked in first place on Saturday and Sunday evening. In the year since David Muir took over as “World News” anchor second-place ABC has narrowed its margins with “Nightly” by -14% in Total Viewers and -3% in A25-54 viewers.

Over the last year, “NBC Nightly News” has averaged a 1.14 million Total Viewer lead over “ABC World News” and a 2.34 million Total Viewer lead over “CBS Evening News” which was, for most of the last year, anchored by Russ Mitchell. Jeff Glor took over as Sunday anchor last month. Among younger viewers, NBC leads ABC by 341,000 viewers and leads CBS by 559,000 viewers.

The margins between “NBC Nightly News” and “ABC World News” during the same time period are smaller on Sundays. The two shows are separated by 649,000 Total Viewers and 281,000 A25-54 viewers. On Sundays during football season, “Nightly” is displaced by NBC’s Sunday Night Football on the West Coast.

Numbers for Saturday/Sunday (Feb. 19, 2011 – Feb. 12, 2012):

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For the first time since 2006, “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” came in second place in the A25-54 demographic last week, besting “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” by 29,000 A25-54 viewers.

While “ABC World News” and “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” are both flat in the A25-54 demographic compared to the same week last year, Pelley’s newscast has grown +20% in younger viewers. All three newscasts are up in Total Viewers year-over-year.

“NBC Nightly News” remains the commanding leader, although Sawyer’s newscast has slashed season-to-date gaps with “Nightly” by -10% in Total Viewers and -18% in A25-54 viewers.

Numbers for the week of February 13, 2012:

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” holds on to the #1 evening news spot with a commanding 9.5 million Total Viewers last week. While the gap last week between “Nightly” and “World News with Diane Sawyer” was quite wide at 1.53 million viewers, season-to-date the gap stands at 1.03M, the closest its been in 3 years.

Season-to-date, only the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” is up in households (+8%) and Total Viewers (+4%). And compared to the same week last year, only Pelley’s “Evening News” grew Total Viewers, +3%.

Numbers for the week of February 6, 2012:

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” held a 1.3 million Total Viewer lead on #2 “World News with Diane Sawyer” last week in the evening news ratings, which had 1.5 million more viewers than Scott Pelley‘s “CBS Evening News.” Season to date, “Evening News” is the only newscast up in both households (4.3/08 from 4.0/08, +8%) and Total Viewers (6.34M vs. 6.08M, +4%).

Compared to the same week last year, which saw the height of the coverage of the Egyptian revolution, all three newscasts were down. Compared to the week prior, only “Nightly News” grew Total Viewers and only “World News” grew younger viewers.

Numbers for the week of January 30, 2012:

“The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley,” now in its eighth month, continues to add viewers: +6% compared to the same week last year while “World News” is down -7% and “Nightly News” is down -6% in Total Viewers. Pelley is still running third, trailing “World News with Diane Sawyer” by 1.5 million viewers, which is one million behind “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.”

Tuesday’s “World News” is left out of the average, due to the “State of the Union” address. “Nightly News” and “Evening News” are based on 5 days.

Numbers for the week of January 23, 2012:

“The CBS Evening News,” 7 months into Scott Pelley‘s run as anchor, is in its closest competitive position with ABC’s “World News” in five years, since the week of Sept. 25, 2006. The perennially third place “Evening News” overtook #2 “World News” in younger viewers last week and in Total Viewers, Pelley’s broadcast, while still third, is closing the gap with #2 “World News with Diane Sawyer,” last week separated by 1.06 million viewers.

Last week saw the best Total Viewer delivery for CBS since the week of January 26, 2009, the week after Pres. Obama’s inauguration.

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” remains a strong #1 with 1.8 million more viewers than “World News.”

The bright spot for the Sawyer’s newscast: season-to-date the show has closed the A25-54 demo gap with “Nightly” to the smallest margin in 3 years.

All three shows were up week-to-week. But only “Evening News” was up year-over-year in both Total Viewers and younger viewers.

Numbers for the week of January 16, 2012:

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” had a nearly 1 million Total Viewer lead last week on #2 “World News with Diane Sawyer,” which had more than a million more viewers than #3 “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.” But only Pelly’s broadcast held steady compared to the same week in 2011: -1% in Total Viewers and younger viewers.

In Total Viewers “Nightly” was down -12% and “World News” down -9% vs. the same week last year. In A25-54 viewers, “Nightly” was down -20% and “World News” was down -16%. Viewers flocked to the evening newscasts during the week of Jan. 10, 2011 following the tragedy in Tucson two days earlier.

Numbers for the week of January 9, 2012: