All Three Networks See Week-to-Week Gains

Talk about a hat trick. ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News all saw gains in total viewers and in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo for the week October 7. 

As with the morning shows, Hurricane Milton likely contributed to the rise in viewership for the evening broadcasts. ABC News and NBC News particularly benefitted from the interest in Milton news, with both networks experiencing double-digit demo increases.

ABC World News with David Muir averaged 7.453 million total viewers and 1.087 million A25-54 viewers for the week, which translates to respective gains of +5% and +16% compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance alongside the same week in 2023 (the week of Oct. 9), WNT was down -1% in total viewers and -2% in the demo.

NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt finished second in total viewers and the demo, averaging 5.936 million and 935,000 viewers, respectively. Week-to-week, the newscast was up +4% in total viewers and +15% in the demo. Year-to-year, Nightly News fell -7% in total viewers and -5% in the demo.

CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell had 4.485 million total viewers and 630,000 viewers in the demo for gains of +3% and +5%, respectively. Compared to its year-ago week numbers, the newscast was down by -4% in total viewers but up +1% in the demo. It was the only newscast to see year-to-year gains in either of the measured categories.

Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of October 7, 2024: