"ABC World News" Closes in on "NBC Nightly News" - Closes Total Viewing Gap to Smallest in 9 Months; #1 in Demo on Friday

"ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" Closes the Total Viewing Gap with  "NBC Nightly News" to 376,000 Viewers - Marking the Smallest Margin in 9 Months

  "World News" Stands as the #1 Evening Newscast Among Adults 25-54 on Friday

Year-to-Year, "World News" Slashes Total Viewing Gap by 51% and Demo Gap by 43% with NBC

  Sweep-to-date, ABC Delivering Smallest Viewing Gaps with NBC for a May Sweep in 4 Years  

For the week of May 14, 2012, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 7.14 million Total Viewers and a 1.5 rating/6 share/1.83 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research.

For the 4th consecutive week, "World News" narrowed its week-to-week Total Viewing margin (-32% - 376,000 vs. 554,000) with "NBC Nightly News," posting its smallest Total Viewer gap with the NBC newscast in 9 months - since w/o 8/15/11.

On Friday (5/18/12), "ABC World News" was the #1 evening newscast among Adults 25-54, outperforming "NBC Nightly News" by 7,000 viewers (1.632 million vs. 1.625 million).

For the 3rd week in a row, "World News" cut its year-to-year margins with "NBC Nightly News" in both Total Viewers (-51% - 376,000 vs. 771,000) and Adults 25-54 (-43% - 216,000 vs. 377,000).   "World News" has cut the demo gap with "Nightly News" by double-digits for 11 weeks in a row, and in 12 of the last 13.

Season-to-date, "World News" has narrowed the gaps with "NBC Nightly News" among both Total Viewers (-3%) and Adults 25-54 (-26%), posting its smallest Total Viewer (1.04 million) and news demo margins (351,000) with the NBC program in 3 years - since the 2008-09 season.

"World News" outperformed the "CBS Evening News" in Total Viewers (+1.65 million) and Adults 25-54 (+272,000), scoring its largest Total Viewer advantage over the CBS program in nearly 5 months - since w/o 12/26/11.

With 25 of 28 days complete of the 2012 May Sweep, "World News" is decreasing its Total Viewer gap with "Nightly News" by -38% (547,000 vs. 879,000), while slashing its Adults 25-54 margin by -62% (209,000 vs. 545,000) versus the May 2011 sweep.  In fact, "World News" is delivering its smallest May sweep margins with "Nightly News" in 4 years - since May 2008.

In addition, "ABC World News" is leading the "CBS Evening News" by 1.51 million Total Viewers (7.17 million vs. 5.66 million) and by 250,000 Adults 25-54 (1.87 million vs. 1.62 million).

"ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" airs at 6:30 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.  Michael Corn is the executive producer of the broadcast. Follow Diane Sawyer and the "World News" team online: @DianeSawyer; @ABCWorldNews; facebook.com/WorldNews.

EVENING NEWS (Week of May 14, 2012)

  Total Viewers      Adults 25-54    Households
 
ABC       7,142,000 1.5/6;  1,826,000   4.8/10
NBC   7,518,000 1.7/7;  2,042,000   5.1/11
CBS   5,492,000 1.3/5;  1,554,000   3.9/ 8

EVENING NEWS (May 2012 Sweep-to-date)

  Total Viewers      Adults 25-54    Households
 
ABC       7,169,000 1.6/6;  1,874,000   4.8/10
NBC   7,716,000 1.7/7;  2,083,000   5.2/11
CBS   5,662,000 1.3/5;  1,554,000   3.9/ 8

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 5/14/12, 5/7/12 & 5/16/11.  Most Current - 2011-2012 Season (9/19/11 - 5/20/12) and 2010-2011 Season (9/20/11 - 5/22/11).  May 2012 Sweep-to-date: 4/26 - 5/20/2012.  May 2011 Sweep: 4/28 - 5/25/2011.