"World News Tonight" is Delivering Largest Overall Audience in 10 Years - Season to Date

"World News Tonight" Cuts Margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Total Viewers by -67% and Adults 25-54 by -40% from Year-Ago Week

"World News Tonight" is Averaging 551,000 More Viewers Per Night Season to Season

ABC News' " World News Tonight with David Muir" averaged 9.254 million Total Viewers, 2.301 million Adults 25-54 and 1.535 million Adults 18-49 for the week of March 2, 2015, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.

"World News Tonight" built on the same week last year (8.279 million and 2.211 million, respectively, on w/o 3/2/14) in both Total Viewers (+12%) and Adults 25-54 (+4%) for the 3rd straight week. The ABC evening newscast was the only program to grow in Total Viewers, while increasing the most in the key adults news demo compared to "CBS Evening News" (flat/-13%) and "NBC Nightly News" (flat/+1%).

"World News Tonight" ranked No. 1 on Friday (3/6/15), leading "NBC Nightly News," in Adults 25-54 (+65,000 - 1.909 million vs. 1.844 million) and Adults 18-49 (+29,000 - 1.313 million vs. 1.284 million). In addition, "World News Tonight" ranked No. 1 in Adults 25-54 on Monday (3/2/15), beating the NBC program by 2,000 news demo viewers (2.478 million vs. 2.476 million).

"World News Tonight" narrowed its margins with "NBC Nightly News" year to year across all key target demos: Total Viewers (-67% - 484,000 vs. 1.489 million), Adults 25-54 (-40% - 90,000 vs. 151,000) and Adults 18-49 (-18% - 174,000 vs. 211,000).

"World News Tonight" is averaging 551,000 more viewers, season to date, compared to the same time frame last season (8.883 million vs. 8.332 million). "World News Tonight" is improving versus the same point last season in Total Viewers (+7%) and Adults 25-54 (+3%). "World News Tonight" is averaging its largest overall viewer audience in 10 years and strongest in the key adult news demo in 4 years - since the 2004-05 and the 2010-11 seasons, respectively. In addition, "World News Tonight" is improving the most in Total Viewers and standing as the only evening newscast to grow in Adults 25-54 compared to "CBS Evening News" (+2%/-1%) and "NBC Nightly News" (-1%/-7%).

Season to date, "World News Tonight" has slashed nearly all of its season margin with "NBC Nightly News" in Adults 25-54 (-85% - 40,000 vs. 267,000), delivering its closest news demo performance with the NBC program in 7 years - since the 2007-08 season. In addition, "World News Tonight" cut its season gaps with "NBC Nightly News" by more than half in Total Viewers (-54% - 556,000 vs. 1.210 million) and Adults 18-49 (-52% - 144,000 vs. 301,000) to its closest performances in 7 years in both measures - since the 2007-08 season.

For the week, "World News Tonight" paced ahead of the "CBS Evening News" by 1.600 million Total Viewers, by 519,000 Adults 25-54 and by 311,000 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 March 2, 2015)

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 3/2/15, 2/23/15 and 2/3/14. Most Current: 2014-2015 Season (9/22/14 - 3/1/15) and 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 - 3/2/14). Averages based on regular telecasts.

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