"World News" Takes First Overall Sweep in the Demo in Over Six Years

"World News" is the Only Evening Broadcast Up in the Demo for the Sweep Compared to Last Year

"World News" Ranks No. 1 for the Week in the Demo with Largest Margin Over "NBC Nightly News" in Over Six Years

"World News" Delivers Top Weekly Demo for Five of the Last Seven Weeks

May 2014 Sweep

" ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" won the 2014 May Sweep in Adults 25-54 (2.014 million), according to Nielsen Media Research. "World News" turned in its first sweeps victory in more than 6 years and first win during a May sweep in 7 years - since February 2008 and May 2007, respectively. In addition, "World News" led NBC's "Nightly News" (1.972 million) by its largest news demo sweep margin (+42,000) in nearly 7 years - since July 2007.

"ABC World News" improved on May 2013 (7.245 million and 1.839 million, respectively) in both Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 25-54 (+10%) to delivered its best May sweep performance in 3 years - since May 2011. In addition, "World News" stood as the only evening newscast to build on its news demo performance from the year-ago sweep as "CBS Evening News" (-1%) and "NBC Nightly News" (-7%) posted losses.

"World News" led CBS' "Evening News" by 1.201 million Total Viewers and by 451,000 Adults 25-54 viewers during the May 2014 sweep, scoring its best news demo sweeps advantage in over 4 years - since November 2009.

Week of May 19, 2014

"ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" stood as the No. 1 evening newscast among Adults 25-54 for the 2nd week in a row, for the week of May 19, 2014, according to Nielsen Media Research. Leading in the key adult demo for the 5th time in the last 7 weeks, "ABC World News" outdelivered "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" by +106,000 Adults 25-54 (1.896 million vs. 1.790 million) to score its largest margin of victory over the NBC program in over 6 years - since w/o 4/7/08.

For the 2nd straight week, "World News" outperformed "Nightly News" in 4 of the 5 head-to-head telecasts during the week: Monday (+59,000 - 1.987 million vs. 1.928 million), Tuesday (+255,000 - 1.953 million vs. 1.698 million), Thursday (+166,000 - 2.095 million vs. 1.929 million) and Friday (+77,000 - 1.594 million vs. 1.517 million). In fact, "World News" aired the Top 3 Adults 25-54 telecasts of the week on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

"World News" slashed its Total Viewer margins with "NBC Nightly News" both week to week (-44% - 467,000 vs. 830,000) and year to year (-33% - 467,000 vs. 692,000). In fact, registering its closest performance with "Nightly News" of the season, "World News" posted its closest performance with the NBC program in more than 8 months - since w/o 9/9/13.

Season to date, "World News" is up versus the same point last season in both Total Viewers (+4%) and Adults 25-54 (+5%), delivering its most-watched season in 5 years and best news demo number in 3 years - since the 2008-09 and the 2010-11 seasons, respectively. "World News" also stands as the only evening newscast to improve on its news demo performance from the previous season compared to "CBS Evening News" (-5%) and "NBC Nightly News" (-2%).

In addition, "World News" is narrowing its season margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Adults 25-54 by double digits (-45% - 179,000 vs. 325,000) compared to its season margin from the same point last year. In fact, cutting its Adults 25-54 gap for the 3rd consecutive season, "World News" is seeing its closest news demo performance with the NBC program in 6 years - since the 2007-08 season.

"World News" has nearly doubled its Adults 25-54 lead over "CBS Evening News" versus its year-ago season lead (+99% - 385,000 vs. 193,000).

For the week, "ABC World News" defeated the "CBS Evening News" by 1.386 million Total Viewers and by 450,000 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 (May 2014 Sweep)

EVENING NEWS (Week of May 19, 2014)

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 5/19/14, 5/12/14 and 5/20/13. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 5/25/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 5/26/13). All averages based on regular telecasts. Most Current: May 2014 Sweep (4/24-5/21/14), May 2013 (4/25-5/22/13) and February 2014 Sweep (1/30-2/26/14). Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). NOTE: Due to the digital transition, the 2009 February sweep was 3/5 - 4/1/09.

- ABC -