"World News Tonight with David Muir" Wins the May 2015 Sweep for the First Time in 8 Years - in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49

ByABC News
May 27, 2015, 11:23 AM

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May 2015 Sweep

ABC World News with David Muir won the 2015 May Sweep in Adults 25-54 (1.826 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.257 million), based on Most Current Data from Nielsen Media Research.  World News Tonights win represented its first May sweeps victory in both measures in 8 years since May 2007.  In fact, looking at all sweeps, the ABC evening newscast has won 3 of the last 4 sweeps periods in Adults 25-54 - May 2015, November 2014 (first in 18 years) and July 2014 (first in 7 years) - and turned in its first Adults 18-49 sweeps win in nearly 8 years since July 2007.

World News Tonight led NBCs Nightly News (1.766 million and 1.244 million, respectively) by 60,000 Adults 25-54 and 13,000 Adults 18-49, posting its largest Adults 25-54 sweep advantage in nearly 8 years since July 2007. 

In addition, World News Tonight slashed its Total Viewer margins with NBC Nightly News both from the previous sweep (-91% - 37,000 vs. 393,000 for February 2015) and the year-ago sweep (-96% - 37,000 vs. 1.029 million for May 2014).  The ABC evening newscast turned in its closest overall viewer performance with Nightly News during any sweep in nearly 8 years and during a May sweep in 8 years since July 2008 and May 2008, respectively.

World News Tonight improved on May 2014 in Total Viewers (+3% - 7.686 million vs. 7.440 million) to score its most-watched May in 4 years since May 2011.  In addition, World News Tonight grew its overall audience the most from the year-ago sweep compared to CBS Evening News (+2%) and NBC Nightly News (-9%).

World News led CBS Evening News by 1.043 million Total Viewers, by 355,000 Adults 25-54 and by 238,000 Adults 18-49 during the May 2015 sweep.

Week of May 18, 2015

ABC News World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 7.541 million Total Viewers, 1.747 million Adults 25-54 and 1.203 million Adults 18-49 for the week of May 18, 2015, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. 

World News Tonight slashed its year-to-year margins with NBC Nightly News in Total Viewers (-92% - 53,000 vs. 627,000).

World News Tonight improved on the same week last year in Total Viewers for the 3rd week in a row (+4% - 7.541 million vs. 7.250 million on w/o 5/19/14).  In fact, World News Tonight has seen year-to-year Total Viewer gains in 8 of the last 9 weeks.

World News Tonight is averaging 473,000 more viewers, season to date, compared to the same time frame last season (8.578 million vs. 8.105 million), while NBC Nightly News is posting a 304,000 average loss (8.965 million vs. 9.269 million).  For the 2nd year in a row, World News Tonight is improving versus the same point last season in both Total Viewers (+6%) and Adults 25-54 (+1%).  World News Tonight is averaging its largest overall viewer audience in 7 years and strongest in the key adult news demo in 4 years  since the 2007-08 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%/-3%) and NBC Nightly News (-3%/-8%). 

Season to date, World News Tonight is running neck and neck with NBC Nightly News in Adults 25-54, slashing nearly all of its season margin (-98% - 5,000 vs. 210,000) to deliver 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 (-67% - 387,000 vs. 1.164 million) and Adults 18-49 (-65% - 92,000 vs. 263,000) to its closest performances in 7 years in both measures  since the 2007-08 season.

For the week, World News Tonight led the CBS Evening News by 643,000 million Total Viewers, by 207,000 Adults 25-54 and by 116,000 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 (May 2015 Sweep)

EVENING NEWS (Week of May 18, 2015)

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD weeks of 5/18/15, 5/11/15 and 5/19/14.  Most Current: 2014-2015 Season (9/22/14 5/24/15) and 2013-2014 Season (9/23/13 5/25/14).  Averages based on regular telecasts.  Most Current: May 2015 Sweep (4/23-5/20/15), May 2014 Sweep (4/24-5/21/14) and February 2015 Sweep (1/29-2/25/15).   Sweep periods (November, February, May and July).  NOTE: Due to the digital transition, the 2009 February sweep was 3/5 4/1/09.