In Last Three Weeks, "ABC World News" Beats "NBC Nightly News" in 8 of 15 Telecasts Among Adults 25-54

"World News with Diane Sawyer" Beats "NBC Nightly News" Three Times During Week in Key News Demo - Closing Weekly Gap to 68,000 Adults 25-54

In Last Three Weeks, "World News" Outperforms NBC in 8 of 15 Telecasts Among Adults 25-54

"World News" Most-Watched Newscast on Thursday, Outdelivering "Nightly News" in Total Viewers

Season-to-Date, "World News" Posting Smallest Gaps with "Nightly News" in 5 Years

For the week of July 29, 2013 "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 6.96 million Total Viewers and a 1.6 rating/6 share/1.84 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. "World News" improved year-to-year (6.85 million and 1.73 million, respectively, on w/o 7/30/12) in both Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 25-54 (+6%). "World News" was also the only evening newscast to build on the year-ago week in both measures, as "CBS Evening News" was mixed (+5%/-11%), while "NBC Nightly News" (-31%/-43%) turned in losses.

For the 2nd straight week, "World News" beat "NBC Nightly News" three times during a course of a week, ranking No. 1 on Wednesday (+212,000), Thursday (+168,000) and Friday (+43,000). In fact, in the last three weeks, "World News" has outperformed "Nightly News" in 8 of their 15 head-to-head telecasts.

In addition, "World News" ranked No. 1 on Thursday (8/1/13) among Total Viewers, outdelivering "NBC Nightly News" by +8,000 viewers (7.270 million vs. 7.262 million) .

"World News" continues to close the viewing gaps with "NBC Nightly News" in key measures. Last week "World News" slashed nearly all of its year-to-year margins with "NBC Nightly News" in both Total Viewers (-87%, 530,000 vs. 4.00 million) and Adults 25-54 (-96%, 68,000 vs. 1.61 million).

Season-to-date, "World News" has increased its Total Viewing audience (+2%) compared to the same point last season, drawing its most-watched season in 2 years - since the 2010-11 season. "World News" narrowed its margins by double-digits with "NBC Nightly News" among both Total Viewers (-22%) and Adults 25-54 (-15%) to post its smallest margins (765,000 and 295,000, respectively) with the NBC program in 5 years - since the 2007-08 season.

For the week, "World News" outdrew "CBS Evening News" by 1.16 million Total Viewers and by 398,000 Adults 25-54.

"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 July 29, 2013)

Total Viewers Adults 25-54 Households
ABC 6,960,000 1.6/6; 1,841,000 4.8/10
NBC 7,490,000 1.6/7; 1,909,000 5.2/11
CBS 5,798,000 1.2/5; 1,443,000 4.0/ 8

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 7/29/13, 7/22/13 & 7/30/12. Most Current - 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 -8/2/13) and 2011-2012 Season (9/19/11 - 7/29/12). All averages based on regular telecasts. (*Note: Due to coverage of Hurricane Sandy, w/o 10/29/12 was coded as a breakout and is excluded from the season count) .