Network news divisions still consider the end of the third week in September to be the end of their season, which could be seen as a return to traditional television broadcasting, but also a chance to take stock from the viewer’s perspective.
ABC News’ World News Tonight continued its winning streak as the most-watched evening news program for eight consecutive seasons and was the number one program across broadcast and cable, with or without sports, for 24 of the 52 weeks, according to ABC.
However, year-over-year declines across all networks likely reflect an overall decline in traditional TV viewership.
For the 2023-24 season, “World News Tonight” averaged 7.72 million viewers, down 5% from the previous season, “NBC Nightly News” averaged 6.44 million, down 4%, and “CBS Evening News” averaged 4.65 million, down 4%.
Among viewers age 25-54, “World News Tonight” averaged 1.07 million viewers, down 17 percent, “NBC Nightly News” was down 14 percent to 955,000, and “CBS Evening News” was down 12 percent to 665,000.
NBC Nightly News saw an increase in viewership in the third quarter due to its coverage of the Olympics. Through the three months, World News Tonight averaged 7.31 million viewers, down 4% from the same period last year. NBC Nightly News averaged 6.2 million viewers, up 1%. CBS Evening News averaged 4.34 million viewers, down 2%.
Among viewers ages 25-54, “World News Tonight” averaged 995,000 viewers, down 13 percent, while “NBC Nightly News” was down 5 percent to 961,000 and the CBS Evening News was down 9 percent to 608,000.
NBC Nightly News won the ratings among adults 18-49 in the third quarter, beating World News Tonight with an average of 689,000 viewers. The ABC broadcast averaged 678,000 viewers, and the CBS Evening News averaged 404,000. NBC News said it closed its demographic gap with ABC News year-over-year and in total viewers by 10 percent.
For the week of September 16, “World News Tonight” averaged 7.18 million viewers, down 4% from the same period last year, while “NBC Nightly News” averaged 5.61 million, down 9%, and the CBS Evening News averaged 4.47 million, down from 4.46 million during the same period last year.
The week marked the first week after the Disney blackout ended on DirecTV systems. It was also the first week after the September 10 presidential debate, which continued with right-wing claims that World News Tonight viewers were suffering from backlash against co-hosts David Muir and Lindsey Davis. President Donald Trump and his supporters claimed the hosts were biased when they fact-checked some of his most outlandish claims. But the 4% year-over-year decline also coincides with an overall decline in evening news viewership year-over-year.
These figures come from Nielsen, via ABC News.