‘World News Tonight’ Tops Evening Newscasts For 2021-22 Season In Viewers, Demo

ABC’s World News Tonight was the most watched newscast for a sixth consecutive season and again topped other broadcast networks in the adults 25-54 ratings demographic.

All of the networks saw ratings declines in their evening newscasts, albeit the previous season had the extraordinary 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, as well as much of the country still hunkered down due to Covid.

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The David Muir-anchored World News Tonight averaged 8.15 million viewers, a decline of 7% from the 2020-21 season. NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt averaged 6.87 million, off by 6%, while CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell posted 4.94 million, off by 9%.

In the adults 25-54 demo. World News Tonight averaged 1.47 million, a 13% drop from the previous season. NBC Nightly News averaged 1.2 million, a fall of 15%, and CBS Evening News was at 830,000, also off by 15%.

Some stats: ABC says that World News Tonight was the most watched program in all of U.S. television for 17 weeks during the season, more than any other show. Since the start of the pandemic, it has had the No. 1 spot across broadcast and cable for 70 weeks. World News Tonight also topped in the 18-49 demo.

CBS News promoted that the O’Donnell-anchored newscast was narrowing the gap with its rivals, particularly among women 25-54.

NBC News said that it improved the viewership gap vs. ABC News in total viewers by 12%, as well as in other demos.

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