Evening News Ratings

"NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" was was the most-watched evening news program last week, averaging 10 million viewers.

"ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" was second and was the only newscast to increase viewers week-to-week. "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" was third.

"World News" cut into NBC's lead year-to-year, but "Nightly" is the only newscast with a season-to-date average that's up year-to-year (corrected).

Numbers for the week of Feb. 1:

	NBC	ABC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	10,000,000	8,580,000	6,480,000
• A25-54:	2,980,000	2,510,000	1,990,000

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams was #1 again last week, but was down 200K viewers from the week before, but stayed above the 10 million mark. ABC World News with Diane Sawyer was flat week-to-week in Total Viewers and up in younger viewers. The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric saw a fall-off in Total Viewers but grew in younger viewers week-to-week.

"World News" is based on a four-day average excluding Wednesday for the SOTU. "Nightly News" and "Evening News" are based on a five-day average.

Numbers for the week of Jan. 25:

	NBC	ABC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	10,080,000	8,510,000	6,760,000
• A25-54:	3,100,000	2,540,000	2,160,000

"NBC Nightly News" was the most watched newscast last week topping "ABC World News" and the "CBS Evening News." The gap between #1 and #2 was the largest for NBC since the Beijing Olympics.

All three anchors had been in Haiti the previous week covering the aftermath of the earthquake. All three programs saw small Total Viewer decreases week-to-week. "Nightly" was the only newscast up in the demo week-to-week.

Diane Sawyer is up 6% since her start as anchor compared to the program's season-to-date average, but the "World News" average for last week was down 7% compared to the same week in '09.

Numbers for the week of Jan. 18:

	NBC	ABC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	10,280,000	8,510,000	6,540,000
• A25-54:	3,240,000	2,450,000	2,040,000

The first week of 2010 brought in a huge combined average of 27 million viewers between the three network newscasts. All three saw a decrease from the previous week, but together drew an average of 25.5 million total viewers.

Most of the week was dominated by coverage of the earthquake in Haiti, for which Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, and Brian Williams traveled to Port-au-Prince.

"NBC Nightly News" was the most watched of the three programs, drawing over 10 million total viewers, followed by "ABC World News," and "CBS Evening News."

Numbers for the week of Jan. 11:

	NBC	ABC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	10,300,000	8,530,000	6,740,000
• A25-54:	3,160,000	2,480,000	2,110,000

The three evening newscasts are starting 2010 on a high note as Brian Williams, Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric averaged a combined 27 million viewers across the first week.

NBC "Nightly News" had its best weekly average in 4 years (since Jan 2, 2006) and led #2 "World News" by 1.34M Total Viewers. Sawyer, just a few weeks into anchoring ABC's broadcast, put up the show's best Total Viewer numbers in 23 months and best A25-54 viewership in 11 months.

The "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" drew over 7 million Total Viewers, which hasn't happened in nearly a year, since the week of 2/2/09.

(Note: ABC's average was based on four days due to the BCS National Championship)

Numbers for the week of Jan. 4:

	NBC	ABC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	10,740,000	9,400,000	7,100,000
• A25-54:	3,320,000	2,680,000	2,260,000

Diane Sawyer made her ABC "World News" debut last Monday, and 8.97 million total viewers (2.41 million in the A25-54 demo) tuned in to watch that night. Charlie Gibson's final broadcast the previous week drew 8.96 million.

NBC's "Nightly News" was again the top evening news program for the week, with Brian Williams drawing 800,000 more total viewers than Sawyer and "World News."

Both NBC and ABC were up week-to-week, but the ratings are based on three-day (Mon-Wed) average for the holiday week.

Numbers for the week of Dec. 21:

	NBC	ABC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	9,370,000	8,560,000	6,160,000
• A25-54:	2,840,000	2,270,000	1,830,000

It was Charlie Gibson's last week at "World News," but ABC's average for the five days still came in second to NBC's "Nightly News."

All three newscasts were down week-to-week and Brian Williams' program maintained it's first place position by 730,000 viewers.

On Friday, however, Gibson and "World News" won the night by 250,000 viewers, drawing a total of 8.96 million, which was its largest Friday audience in nearly two years.

Also: Early Numbers for Diane Sawyer's 'World News' Debut

• Total Viewers: NBC: 9,220,000 / ABC: 8,490,000 / CBS: 6,190,000

• A25-54: NBC: 2,850,000 / ABC: 2,390,000 / CBS: 1,890,000

In Charles Gibson's second-to-last week as anchor of "World News," he drew 8.8M Total Viewers, up 500,000 from the week prior, but still more than a million behind NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

All three broadcasts were up week to week in both Total Viewers and A25-54 demo viewers. The network evening newscasts are putting up some of their best numbers since January, which tends to happen during the winter months.

• Total Viewers: NBC: 9,890,000 / ABC: 8,800,000 / CBS: 6,760,000

• A25-54: NBC: 2,960,000 / ABC: 2,520,000 / CBS: 2,040,000

NBC's "Nightly News" was the top evening news program last week followed by ABC's "World News" and CBS' "Evening News."

Week-to-week, ABC (+150k) and CBS (+340k) were up in total viewers, while NBC was down (-90k). In the 25-54 demographic, CBS (+280k) and NBC (+140k) were up, while ABC's average was down (-110k).

ABC's broadcast for the evening of the president's address was not included in their average due to preemption on the west coast. NBC and CBS averages are for the full five days.

• Total Viewers: NBC: 9,590,000 / ABC: 8,340,000 / CBS: 6,560,000

• A25-54: NBC: 2,890,000 / ABC: 2,250,000 / CBS: 1,980,000

During the Thanksgiving week, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams was the #1 evening newscast. All three broadcasts showed growth week-to-week. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday and football, the World News and Evening News averages are for Mon.-Wed. The Nightly News average is for Mon.-Wed. & Friday.

• Total Viewers: NBC: 9,680,000 / ABC: 8,190,000 / CBS: 6,220,000

• A25-54: NBC: 2,750,000 / ABC: 2,360,000 / CBS: 1,700,000