"World News Tonight" Cuts Gap with "NBC Nightly News" from Year Ago Week by Double Digits - Total Viewers (-35%), Adults 25-54 (-90%) and Adults 18-49 (-55%)

"World News Tonight" is the #1 Evening Broadcast Among Adults 25-54, Season to Date, for the First Time in 7 Years

"World News Tonight" Narrows its Margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Total Viewers (-41%) and Adults 18-49 (-58%) for the Season

"World News Tonight" Improves the Most Season to Date in Total Viewers (+7%), Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (5%) Compared to Last Year

ABC News' " World News Tonight with David Muir" averaged 8.520 million Total Viewers, 2.116 million Adults 25-54 and 1.430 million Adults 18-49 during the week of December 15, 2014, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.

Last week, "World News Tonight" featured Anchor David Muir's exclusive with President Barack Obama on the United States' historic move with Cuba, ABC News' exclusively obtained video of Ray Rice and his wife after the attack and exclusive reporting from Senior National Correspondent Jim Avila on Alan Gross's release from Cuba after five years.

"World News Tonight" improved on the year-ago week (7.919 million, 1.905 million and 1.306 million, respectively, on w/o 12/16/13) in all target demos: Total Viewers (+8%), Adults 25-54 (+11%) and Adults 18-49 (+9%). In addition, the ABC evening newscast grew the most year to year in all three measures compared to "CBS Evening News" (+4%/+2%/+1%) and "NBC Nightly News" (+2%/-4%/-5%).

"World News Tonight" slashed nearly all of its Adult 25-54 gap with "NBC Nightly News" from the year-ago week (-90% - 34,000 vs. 344,000). In addition, "World News Tonight" narrowed its year-to-year gaps with the NBC program in Total Viewers (-35% - 840,000 vs. 1.292 million) and Adults 18-49 (-55% - 176,000 vs. 392,000).

Season to date, "World News Tonight" stands as the No. 1 evening newscast in Adults 25-54, leading "NBC Nightly News" by 12,000 news demo viewers. This marks the first time in 7 years that "World News Tonight" ranks as the top evening newscast in Adults 25-54 during the season - since the 2007-08 season. In addition, "World News Tonight" slashed its season gaps with "NBC Nightly News" by 41% in Total Viewers (617,000 vs. 1.038 million) and by 58% in Adults 18-49 (121,000 vs. 287,000) to its closest performances in 6 years and 7 years, respectively - since the 2008-09 and the 2007-08 seasons, respectively.

"World News Tonight" is improving versus the same point last season in Total Viewers (+7%), Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%). "World News Tonight" is averaging its largest overall viewer audience in 7 years and strongest in the key adult news demo in 5 years - since the 2007-08 and the 2009-10 seasons, respectively. In addition, "World News Tonight" is improving the most in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 compared to "CBS Evening News" (+1%/+2%/+3%) and "NBC Nightly News" (+2%/-6%/-6%).

For the week, "World News Tonight" beat the "CBS Evening News" by 1.187 million Total Viewers, by 444,000 Adults 25-54 and by 324,000 Adults 18-49.

ABC "World News Tonight with David Muir" airs at 6:30 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network. Almin Karamehmedovic is the executive producer of the broadcast. Follow David Muir and the "World News Tonight" team online: @DavidMuir; @WNTonight; facebook.com/DavidMuirABC; facebook.com/WorldNewsTonight.

EVENING NEWS (Week of December 15, 2014)

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 12/15/14, 12/8/14 and 12/16/13. Most Current: 2014-2015 Season (9/22 - 12/21/14) and 2013-2014 Season (9/23 - 12/22/13). Averages based on regular telecasts.

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