Over a month into NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams’ suspension, ABC World News Tonight finally broke the peacock network’s winning streak. During the week ending on April 3, ABC’s David Muir drew more total viewers than NBC.
It’s the first time Nightly News has lost the viewer race in 288 weeks. Even as Lester Holt replaced Williams, who has been on a six-month suspension since Feb. 10, NBC still held on. But now, Muir has finally brought the streak to an end.
Nielsen said that Muir averaged 7.997 million viewers during the week ending on April 3, while Holt averaged 7.913 million, notes The Hollywood Reporter. That’s 84,000 more viewers than Holt.
NBC News tried to put on a brave face, with a spokesperson saying that they are “pleased” with Holt’s performance. “We’re proud of the caliber of our work and remain committed to delivering the highest quality broadcast for our audience every night,” the network told THR.
As TheWrap notes, World News also won in both the 25-54 and 18-49 demographics. In the 25-54 group, Muir had 1.95 million viewers, while Nightly News had 1.79 million. In the 18-49 demo, World News had 1.28 million against Nightly News’ 1.23 million.
Nightly News is still far ahead in the season average, with 9.2 million total viewers. World News has averaged 9.1 million viewers over the course of the season.
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