TV Ratings: ABC's David Muir Enjoys Rare 2-Week Streak at No. 1

Usually a victor just among total viewers, it's the first time in three years that 'World News Tonight' has topped NBC in the key demo for such a stretch.


David Muir is enjoying a strong ratings run in what's shaping up to be a particularly competitive mid-season among the broadcast news telecasts.


ABC's World News Tonight just wrapped its second week in a row with victories among both total viewers and adults 25–54, the first time it's enjoyed such a stretch in nearly three years.


For the week of March 12, Muir's telecast averaged an insurmountable 8.8 million viewers. That's an advantage of nearly 1 million from his closest rival, NBC. His audience victory is nothing new, but demo wins are awfully difficult to snatch from NBC's Lester Holt. Muir came out on top there, too, earning just shy of 1.8 million adults 25-54 — a modest 46,000 viewers ahead of NBC Nightly News.


It was the second week in a row that Muir slipped past Holt among adults 25-54, the advertiser-favored demo for almost all news shows. For the week of Mar. 5, Muir posted an advantage of 81,000 viewers over NBC. (For CBS' part, the No. 3 telecast with Jeff Glor earned 6.7 million viewers and over 1.4 million adults 25-54.)


Among total viewers, ABC's evening news program is leading the evening news race by the widest margins in 22 years — up 459,000 from NBC.