NBC Nightly News Maintains Lead

Lester Holt

Lester Holt is maintaining NBC’s lead in the nightly news battles, but, according to Variety,  his rivals have moved closer to his network’s vaunted position in the daypart.

Holt, who has been at the helm of “NBC Nightly News” since anchor Brian Williams left the desk after his Feb. 6 broadcast, notched 9.4 million viewers between Feb. 9 and Feb. 13, according to Nielsen data.

That marks Holt’s first full five-day stint on the show since Williams departed the program in the wake of an investigation into details he falsified about a 2003 NBC News expedition in Iraq. NBCUniversal suspended Williams, the nation’s most-watched evening news anchor, for six months without pay.

ABC’s “World News” garnered about 9.03 million viewers, while CBS’ “Evening News” secured a total viewership of about 7.63 million.

Holt also led his rivals in the viewership most desired by advertisers in news programming. “Nightly News” won 2.29 million adults 25-54 during the same time span. “World News” attracted 2.24 million and “Evening News” won nearly 1.79 million.

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