via press release:
FOR THE 2010-11 BROADCAST SEASON:
“World News with Diane Sawyer” Sees Greatest Total Viewer Growth Among Evening Newscasts Versus the 2009-10 Broadcast Season
“World News” Cut Total Viewer Gap with “NBC Nightly News” by 3% Versus the Previous Season
ABC Outperforms CBS by 2.07 Total Viewers -- Marking Largest Total Viewer Advantage in Three Seasons
MAY 2011 SWEEP: “World News” Draws Largest Total Viewing Audience for a May Sweep in Six Years
“World News” Narrowed Total Viewing Gap with NBC by 20% Compared to May 2010 Sweep
LAST WEEK: Year-to-Year “World News” Grows Total Viewing Audience for the 14th Consecutive Week
“World News” Hits 9-week High in the Key Adults 25-54 Demo
2010-11 Broadcast Season
On average for the 35 week 2010-11 broadcast season, “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” averaged 8.06 million Total Viewers and a 1.8 rating/7 share/2.22 million among Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. “World News” demonstrated the largest growth among the evening newscasts growing by 2% in Total Viewers versus the 2009-10 broadcast season.
“World News” decreased its Total Viewer gap with “NBC Nightly News” by -3% (1.08 million vs. 1.11 million) from the previous season.
For the 2010-2011 broadcast season, “World News” topped “CBS Evening News” by 2.07 million viewers(8.06 million vs. 5.99 million) and by 390,000 Adults 25-54 (2.22 million vs. 1.83 million). “World News”increased its year-to-year Total Viewer lead by 8% (2.07 million vs. 1.91 million), building on the previous season for the 2nd year in a row. In fact, the ABC program delivered its largest overall viewer advantage over the CBS program in 3 seasons – since the 2007-08 broadcast season.
May 2011 Sweep
For the May 2011 Sweep, “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” averaged 7.98 million Total Viewers and a 1.7 rating/7 share/2.13 million among Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. “World News” built on the previous May Sweep in both Total Viewers (+14%) and Adults 25-54 (+7%), drawing its largest overall audience for the month in 6 years – since May 2005.
“World News” cut its Total Viewer margin with NBC’s “Nightly News” by -20% (921,000 vs. 1.15 million)versus the February 2011 sweep.
Week of May 23, 2011
For the week of May 23, 2011, “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” averaged 8.09 million Total Viewers and a 1.8 rating/7 share/2.19 million among Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research. For the 2nd week in a row, “World News” improved on the prior week’s performance in Total Viewers (+3%) and Adults 25-54(+3%), hitting a 9-week high in the key adult news demo – since w/o 3/21/11.
“World News” posted increases from the same week last year in Total Viewers (+22%) and Adults 25-54(+14%). The ABC evening news program scored year-to-year Total Viewer improvement for the 14th consecutive week, while building on its year-ago Adult 25-54 number for the 12th time in the last 13 weeks.
“World News” topped “CBS Evening News” by 1.93 million viewers and by 216,000 Adults 25-54. The ABC program increased its year-to-year Total Viewer margin (+46% - 1.93 million vs. 1.32 million) over the CBS program for the 5th consecutive week.
Note: Diane Sawyer broadcasted from Joplin, Missouri on Monday 5/23 and Tuesday 5/24. David Muir anchored “World News” on Friday 5/27.
EVENING NEWS (2010-11 Broadcast Season)
| Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 | Households | |
| ABC | 8,056,000 | 1.8/7; 2,219,000 | 5.4/11 |
| NBC | 9,131,000 | 2.2/8; 2,699,000 | 5.9/12 |
| CBS | 5,991,000 | 1.5/6; 1,829,000 | 4.0/ 8 |
EVENING NEWS (Week of May 16, 2011)
| Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 | Households | |
| ABC | 7,983,000 | 1.7/7; 2,134,000 | 5.3/11 |
| NBC | 8,904,000 | 2.2/9; 2,700,000 | 5.9/12 |
| CBS | 5,840,000 | 1.5/6; 1,819,000 | 3.9/ 8 |
EVENING NEWS (Week of May 23, 2011)
| Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 | Households | |
| ABC | 8,091,000 | 1.8/7; 2,190,000 | 5.3/11 |
| NBC | 9,019,000 | 2.3/9; 2,827,000 | 5.9/12 |
| CBS | 6,160,000 | 1.6/6; 1,974,000 | 4.1/ 8
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Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Live + SD weeks of 05/23/11, 5/16/11 & 5/24/10. Most Current: May 2011 (4/28 – 5/25/11) & May 2010 (4/29 – 5/26/11). February 2011 Sweep (2/3-3/2/11). Sweep periods (November, February, May and July). 2010-2011 Broadcast Season (9/20/10 – 5/25/11) and 2009-2010 Broadcast Season (9/21/09 – 5/26/10).
