CBS’ Norah O’Donnell Still No. 3, Ratings Slide May Be Over

Ratings for the new “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell are still underwater, but they may have finally hit bottom. reports The NY Post.

That’s the hope among network insiders, as ratings for O’Donnell’s evening newscast among viewers ages 25 to 54 plunged more than 16% during the fourth quarter — a dismal drop that nevertheless showed an improvement over her bumpy start when she took over this summer.

O’Donnell — who replaced former anchor Jeff Glor in July — nabbed a mere 1 million viewers in the key age range coveted by advertisers during the quarter ended Dec. 29, according to Nielsen. O’Donnell’s total viewers fell 9.6%, to 5.5 million, the firm said.

Nevertheless, CBS reps say O’Donnell’s ratings improved in early December, when the program moved from New York to Washington, DC, and Jay Shaylor joined the team as executive producer from CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

In its first week broadcasting from DC, the show’s total viewers jumped to 5.9 million, down 8% from a year earlier. It has since hovered in the 5.8 million range.

That’s still third place, but better than the nightly average of 5.5 million viewers in the fourth quarter overall, according to Nielsen.