All three newscasts saw week-to-week declines in total viewers and the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo for the week of July 1. The long July 4th holiday weekend likely played a significant role in that decline as most viewers were enjoying the additional time away from television screens.
NOTE: On Wednesday (07/03/24), World News Tonight and CBS Evening News were retitled to WNT-ABC and CBS Evening Nws, respectively, due to July 4th holiday. All evening newscasts were retitled on Thursday (07/04/24) and Friday (07/05/24). These shows are excluded from the weekly and season averages, with this week’s averages being based on three days (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) for NBC Night Nightly News and two days (Monday and Tuesday) for World News Tonight and CBS Evening News.
ABC News’ World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 7.243 million total viewers and 990,000 A25-54 viewers for the week. That translates to respective declines of -3% and -4% compared to the previous week. Looking back at its performance during the same week in 2023 (the week of July 3), WNT was up in total viewers by +2% but down by -5% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt finished second in total viewers and the A25-54 demo, averaging 5.456 million viewers and 717,000 viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was down -7% in total viewers and -11% in the demo. Year-to-year, the newscast saw declines of -6% and -18%, respectively.
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell registered 4.334 million total viewers and 617,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo. That translates to respective declines of -2% in total viewers and -3% relative to the week prior. Compared to the same week in 2023, the newscast’s numbers were up by +4% in total viewers, but down by -6% in the demo.
Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of July 1, 2024:
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Total Viewers: | 7,243,000 | 5,456,000 | 4,334,000 |
| • A25-54: | 990,000 | 717,000 | 617,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 7/1/24), Previous Week (w/o 6/24/24) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 6/26/23). Most Current Data Stream: 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 7/7/24) and 2022-2023 Season (9/19/22 – 7/2/23). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.