"World News Tonight" Cuts Year-to-Year Quarter Gaps with "NBC Nightly News" By Double Digits - Total Viewers (-39%) and Adults 18-49 (-58%)

For the Quarter, "World News Tonight" Delivers Largest Overall Audience in 7 Years

"World News Tonight" Grows the Most During Quarter Compared to Last Year - Total Viewers (+7%), Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%)

For the Week, "World News Tonight" Improves in All Key Measures from Last Year

ABC News " World News Tonight with David Muir" won the 4th Quarter 2014 in Adults 25-54 (2.139 million), based on Most Current Data from Nielsen Media Research. Leading NBC's "Nightly News"(2.130 million) by 9,000 news demo viewers, "World News Tonight" delivered its first 4th quarter victory in 7 years - since 4Q07.

In David Muir's first full quarter as anchor of "World News Tonight," he had an exclusive interview with President Obama for the Unites States' historic move in resetting relations with Cuba, and he revisited his report on refugee children working along the Syrian border when American kids responded with donations to help them. Muir was the only evening news anchor to report from Atlanta at the CDC when Ebola cases appeared in America and had a one-on-one with Bill Gates on his biggest philanthropic gift yet to fight Ebola. The program also featured reporting by Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz on a warship during the first U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State and the Khorasan and Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser in Liberia covering the Ebola outbreak.

In addition, "World News Tonight" cut its year-to-year quarter gaps (4Q13) with "NBC Nightly News" by double-digits in Total Viewers (-39% - 630,000 vs. 1.040 million) and Adults 18-49 (-58% - 123,000 vs. 291,000). "World News Tonight" turned in its closest 4th quarter performance with the NBC program in 6 years in Total Viewers and in 7 years in Adults 18-49 - since 4Q08 and 4Q07, respectively.

"World News Tonight" scored across the board gains from the year-ago quarter(7.928 million, 1.982 million and 1.367 million, respectively, for 4Q13): Total Viewers (+7%), Adults 25-54 (+8%) and Adults 18-49 (+5%). In fact, the ABC evening newscast attracted its largest overall 4th quarter audience in 7 years and best in Adults 25-54 in 5 years - since 4Q07 and 4Q09, respectively. In addition, "World News Tonight" grew the most from 4Q13 compared to "CBS Evening News" (+1%/+3%/+3%) and "NBC Nightly News" (+2%/-6%/-6%).

"World News Tonight" outdelivered the "CBS Evening News" during 4Q13 by 1.478 million Total Viewers, by 437,000 Adults 25-54 and by 276,000 Adults 18-49, posting its biggest overall audience lead in 3 years and largest in both key adult demos in 5 years during a 4th quarter - since 4Q11 and 4Q09, respectively.

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ABC News' "World News Tonight with David Muir" averaged 8.376 million Total Viewers, 2.064 million Adults 25-54 and 1.389 million Adults 18-49 during the week of December 22, 2014, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.

For the 2nd week in a row, "World News Tonight" saw gains on the same week last year (7.618 million, 1.880 million and 1.237 million, respectively, on w/o 12/23/13) in all target demos: Total Viewers (+10%), Adults 25-54 (+10%) and Adults 18-49 (+12%).

"World News Tonight" narrowed its margins with "NBC Nightly News" from the year-ago week in Total Viewers (-5% - 1.054 million vs. 1.107 million), Adults 25-54 (-58% - 98,000 vs. 236,000) and Adults 18-49 (-39% - 221,000 vs. 360,000).

Season to date, "World News Tonight" stands as the No. 1 evening newscast in Adults 25-54, leading "NBC Nightly News" by 9,000 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.

For the week, "World News Tonight" led the "CBS Evening News" by 1.074 million Total Viewers, by 448,000 Adults 25-54 and by 287,000 Adults 18-49.

Note: With the Christmas holiday, ABC's "World News Tonight" did not air due to NBA basketball. "World News Tonight" was coded as specials on Wednesday and Friday. CBS' "Evening News" and NBC's "Nightly News" were coded as specials from Wednesday through Friday. All specialed telecasts are excluded from the weekly averages. ABC's, CBS' and NBC's program averages are based on 2 days (Monday-Tuesday).

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 (4th Quarter, 2014)

EVENING NEWS (Week of December 22, 2014)

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 12/22/14, 12/15/14 and 12/23/13. Most Current: 2014-2015 Season (9/22 - 12/28/14) and 2013-2014 Season (9/23 - 12/29/13). 4Q14: 9/22 - 12/28/14. 4Q13: 9/23 - 12/29/13. Averages based on regular telecasts.

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