"World News" Cuts Overall Viewing Gap with "NBC Nightly News" to Smallest Margin in 6 Weeks
"World News with Diane Sawyer" Grows Both Overall and Demo Audiences Week-to-Week
"World News" Cuts Overall Viewing Gap with "NBC Nightly News" to Smallest Margin in 6 Weeks
During the 4 th Quarter of 2012, ABC's Evening Newscast Closes Gap with NBC Among Total Viewers by 16% Compared Same Period in 2011
For the week of December 24, 2012, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 8.27 million Total Viewers and a 1.8 rating/6 share/2.11 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. "World News" grew both its overall (+4%, 7.94 million on w/o 12/17/12) and demo (+1%, 2.08 million on w/o 12/17/12) audiences compared to the previous week. In addition, the ABC newscast grew its overall audience year-to-year (+4%, 7.96 million on w/o 12/26/11).
"World News" slashed the Total Viewing gap with "NBC Nightly News" to the smallest margin in six weeks (825,000 viewers). ABC closed the overall viewing gap with NBC by 31% week-to-week (1.19 million on w/o 12/17/12).
Note: All three newscasts are based on a 3-day average (W-F). David Muir anchored the ABC broadcast Wednesday-Friday.
Season-to-date, "World News" has increased its Total Viewing audience (+1%, 7.87 million vs. 7.78 million) compared to the same point last season, drawing its most-watched season in 3 years - since the 2009-10 season. In addition, "World News" has narrowed its Total Viewer gap (-16%) with "NBC Nightly News" by double-digits for the second year in a row to post its smallest gap (793,000) with the NBC program in 4 years- since the 2008-09 season.
"World News" outperformed "CBS Evening News" over a million Total Viewers and nearly 200,000 Adults 25-54.
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For the 4th Quarter 2012, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 7.87 million Total Viewers and a 1.7 rating/7 share/2.01 million among Adults 25-54. "World News" increased its overall audience over the year-ago quarter (+1%, 4Q11 - 7.78 million). In addition, "World News" was up over the previous quarter (3Q12) in both Total Viewers (+10%) and Adults 25-54 (+10%).
Compared to the year-ago quarter (4Q11), "World News" decreased its margins with "NBC Nightly News" by double-digits among Total Viewers (-16% - 793,000 vs. 940,000) .
"World News" outperformed the "CBS Evening News" during 4Q12 by 1.30 million Total Viewers and by 185,000 Adults 25-54 viewers.
"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/DianeSawyer; facebook.com/WorldNews.
EVENING NEWS (Week of December 24, 2012)
| Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 | Households | |
| ABC | 8,272,000 | 1.8/6; 2,110,000 | 5.4/10 |
| NBC | 9,097,000 | 2.1/7; 2,504,000 | 5.9/11 |
| CBS | 7,246,000 | 1.6/5; 1,912,000 | 4.8/ 9 |
EVENING NEWS (4 th Quarter of 2012)
| Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 | Households | |
| ABC | 7,867,000 | 1.7/7; 2,014,000 | 5.3/10 |
| NBC | 8,660,000 | 2.0/7; 2,370,000 | 5.8/11 |
| CBS | 6,576,000 | 1.5/5; 1,829,000 | 4.5/ 8 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 12/24/12, 12/17/12 & 12/26/11. Most Current - 2012-2013 Season (9/24 - 12/30/12), 2011-2012 Season (9/19 - 12/25/11), 4Q12 (9/24 - 12/30/12) and 4Q11 (9/19 - 12/25/11). All averages based on regular telecasts.