"World News" is Delivering Most-Watched Season in 4 Years, Posting Smallest News Demo Margin with NBC in 5 Years

For 3rd time in Last 4 weeks, "World News" Cuts Year-to-Year Adults 25-54 Margin with "NBC Nightly News"

"World News'" Airs No. 1 Telecast on Thursday in Adults 25-54 With Best News Demo Number in 8 Months

ABC Program Attracts Largest Overall Weekly Audience in Nearly 3 Years

For the week of December 30, 2013, "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" averaged 9.195 million Total Viewers and a 1.9 rating/6 share/2.275 million in Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. "World News" surged week to week by double digits in both Total Viewers (+21%) and Adults 25-54 (+21%) - 7.618 million and 1.880 million, respectively, on w/o 12/23/13. In fact, the ABC evening newscast attracted its largest overall audience in nearly 3 years - since w/o 1/31/11.

"World News" improve on the year-ago week in both Total Viewers (+8%) and Adults 25-54 (+9%) - 8.475 million and 2.095 million, respectively, on w/o 12/31/12.

On Thursday (1/2/14), "World News'" scored its best single-day performance of the season in both Total Viewers (10.446 million) and Adults 25-54 (2.717 million). In fact, it was "World News'" most-watched telecast in nearly 3 years and best news demo number in 8 months - since 2/1/11 and 4/15/13, respectively, based on regular telecasts. In addition, "World News'" aired the No. 1 telecast on Thursday in Adults 25-54, beating "Nightly News" (2.689 million) on the night by 28,000 demo viewers.

For the 2nd week in a row, "World News" narrowed its week-to-week Total Viewer gap with "NBC Nightly News" (-14% - 952,000 vs. 1.107 million) to score its closest performance with NBC in 2 months - since w/o 10/28/13.

For the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks, "World News" cut its year-to-year Adults 25-54 margin with "NBC Nightly News" (-13% - 307,000 vs. 352,000).

Season to date, "World News" is up versus the same point last season in Total Viewers (+1%), delivering its most-watched season in 4 years - since the 2009-10 season. In addition, "World News" is narrowing its season margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Adults 25-54 by double digits (-20% - 286,000 vs. 358,000) compared to its season margin from the same point last year. In fact, "World News" is posting its smallest news demo margin with the NBC program in 5 years - since the 2008-09 season.

"World News" has also significantly widened its Adults 25-54 lead over "CBS Evening News" versus its year-ago season lead by 82 % (327,000 vs. 180,000).

For the week, "ABC World News" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 1.661 million Total Viewers and by 435,000 Adults 25-54, scoring its largest Total Viewer margin of the season over the CBS program.

Note: Due to the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day holidays, ABC's "World News," CBS' "Evening News" and NBC's "Nightly News" were coded as specials on Tuesday (12/31/13) and Wednesday (1/1/14). They are excluded from the weekly averages. ABC's, CBS' and NBC's program averages are based on 3 days (Mon, Thurs-Fri).

"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.

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 12/30/13, 12/23/13 and 12/31/12. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 1/3/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 1/4/13).

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