"World News" is the Only Program to Improve in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Compared to Last Year and Last Week

"World News" Narrows Gap with "Nightly News" in Total Viewers to -68K: Closest Finish Since September 2012

Season to Date, "World News" is the Only Evening Broadcast to Improve in Adults 25-54 (+5%) from the Same Period Last Year

" ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast in Adults 25-54 (1.883 million) for the week of June 30, 2014, according to Nielsen Media Research. In fact, "World News" beat NBC's "Nightly News" (1.726 million) during the week by its largest news demo margin (+157,000) in more than 6 years - since w/o 2/25/08. Further, "World News" has ranked No. 1 in Adults 25-54 in 7 of the last 13 weeks

"World News" saw increases over the prior week (7.340 million, 1.861 million and 1.270 million, respectively, for w/o 6/23/14) for the 2nd consecutive week in Total Viewers (+1%), Adults 25-54 (+1%) and Adults 18-49 (+1%). In fact, "World News" was the only evening news program to grow over the prior week in any key measure as both "CBS Evening News" (-2%/-3%/-3%) and "NBC Nightly News" (-6%/-10%/-14%) both lost viewers.

For the 6th week in a row, "World News" grew from the year-earlier week in both Total Viewers (+4%), Adults 25-54 (+7%) and Adults 18-49 (+4%) - 7.178 million, 1.753 million and 1.222 million, respectively, on w/o 7/1/13. In fact, "World News" was also the only evening news program to grow in any key measure, as "CBS Evening News" (flat/-9%/-6%) was mixed, while "NBC Nightly News" (-2%/-14%/-14%) was down. Further, "World News" has turned in year-to-year gains in all three measures in 8 of the last 11 weeks.

"ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast in Adults 18-49 (1.270 million), leading NBC's "Nightly News" (1.203 million) during the week by 67,000 Adults 18-49. "World News" turned in its largest margin of victory in Adults 18-49 in over 6 years - since w/o 1/21/08.

"World News" ranked No. 1 three times during the week in Total Viewers, outdrawing "NBC Nightly News" on Monday (+104,000 - 7.869 million vs. 7.765 million), Wednesday (+31,000 - 7.521 million vs. 7.490 million) and Thursday (+163,000 - 7.111 million vs. 6.948 million). It stands as the first time in over 5 1/2 years that "World News" beat "Nightly News" three times during the week - since w/o 10/27/08, based on regular telecasts. Further, for the first time this season, "World News'" aired the week's most-watched telecast with its Monday airing.

In Adults 25-54, "World News" also ranked No. 1 three times during the week in Adults 25-54, leading "NBC Nightly News" on Monday (+305,000 - 2.202 million vs. 1.897 million), Wednesday (+118,000 - 1.881 million vs. 1.763 million) and Thursday (+325,000 - 1.778 million vs. 1.453 million). "World News" also owned the week's No. 1 Adults 25-54 telecast with its Monday airing.

"World News" slashed nearly all of its Total Viewers margins with "NBC Nightly News" both week to week (-89% - 68,000 vs. 604,000) and year to year (-86% - 68,000 vs. 499,000). In fact, "World News" turned in its closest performance with "Nightly News" in 19 months - since w/o 9/24/12.

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 6 years and best news demo number in 3 years - since the 2007-08 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 more than half (-51% - 154,000 vs. 314,000) compared to its season margin from the same point last year. In fact, cutting its Adults 25-54 gap by double digits 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 season lead over "CBS Evening News" versus its year-ago season lead (+90% - 408,000 vs. 215,000).

For the week, "ABC World News" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 1.692 million Total Viewers and by 567,000 Adults 25-54, posting its largest overall viewer advantage in 9 months - since w/o 9/9/13.

NOTE: Due to the 4th of July holiday, "ABC World News," "NBC Nightly News" and "CBS Evening News" were coded as specials on Friday (7/4/14) and each telecasts was excluded from the program averages. ABC's, NBC's and CBS' weekly averages are based on four days (Mon-Thurs).

"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 June 30, 2014)

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 6/30/14, 6/23/14 and 7/1/13. Most Current: 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 7/6/14) and 2012-2013 Season (9/24/12 - 7/7/13).

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