TV Ratings: ABC's 'World News Tonight' Tops Broadcast, Cable

Fox News Channel beat the full-court press of TBS and TNT’s coverage of the men’s March Madness college basketball tournament to top cable’s primetime ratings chart for the 10th straight week.

Fox News led the pack, but registered week-to-week declines in both measured categories during primetime and total day. MSNBC saw improvements in primetime with total viewers and A25-54 viewers, and CNN saw improvements in total viewers during primetime and total day.

Nielsen live plus same-day data for the week of March 18 saw FNC average 1.909 million total viewers and 191,000 A25-54 viewers during primetime. The network was down in total viewers by -7% and -14% in the A25-54 demo, relative to the week prior (the week beginning March 11).

Among all basic cable networks, Fox News maintained its No. 1 position in total primetime viewers and fell two spots from the previous week to land in the No. 6 position in the primetime demo. In total day, the network was the only cable network to cross one million total viewers, holding its No. 1 position but falling from No. 4 to No. 5 in the total day demo for the week of March 18.

MSNBC in primetime averaged 1.260 million total viewers and 116,000 viewers from the A25-54 demo for the week of March 18. It rose by +4% in total viewers and +1% in the A25-54 demo from what the network averaged the week prior. Among all basic cable networks, MSNBC dropped one spot to No. 4 in total primetime viewers and fell to No. 17 in the demo. It remained No. 2 in total day viewers and fell from No. 9 to No. 12 in the total day demo.

CNN averaged 574,000 total primetime viewers and 100,000 A25-54 viewers in primetime for the week of March 18. The news net was up +2% in total viewers but dropped by -12% in the A25-54 demo compared to the prior week. CNN finished the week falling from 10th place in primetime total viewers to 12th place and finishing in the 21st spot in the demo, down from 18th. It was No. 6 in total day viewers, down from No. 4, and it fell two places to land in 13th place in the total day demo.

How did the networks fare relative to the year-ago week? Fox News was down -8% in total primetime viewers and -18% in the demo. It dropped by -7% in total day viewers and -12% in the total day demo.

Fox had 9 out of the 15 most-watched cable news shows of the week, led once again by The Five (2.883 million viewers at 5 p.m. ET). The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 p.m. ET was MSNBC’s most-watched program, coming in at No. 7 with 1.701 million viewers. MSNBC, impressively, had six of its shows in the top 15, with two of them belonging to Deadline: White House at No. 12 with 1.419 million viewers (4 p.m. ET) and at No. 13 with 1.418 million viewers (5 p.m. ET) – the Nicole Wallace effect is certainly strong.

Meanwhile, Gutfeld! remained on top in the Adults 25-54 demo, averaging 262,000 A25-54 viewers at 10 p.m. ET. Fox News again led the way with 11 of the top 15 cable news shows in the demo overall. MSNBC occupied three spots, with the Rachel Maddow/Alex Wagner 9 p.m. ET timeslot landing at the No. 11 spot with 156,000 viewers. CNN crept into the top 15 list, landing in the final spot courtesy of Erin Burnett Outfront at 7 p.m. ET with 134,000 viewers.

📺BROADCAST NETWORK EVENING NEWS

ABC's David Muir, NBC's Lester Holt, CBS' Norah O'Donnell

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast on all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.532 million), Adults 25-54 (1.000 million) and Adults 18-49 (657,000). “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.169 million, 807,000 and 523,000, respectively) by 1.353 million Total Viewers, by 193,000 Adults 25-54 and by 134,000 Adults 18-49, respectively.

“World News Tonight” widened its lead over “NBC Nightly News” year to year in Total Viewers (+7% – 1.363 million vs. 1.278 million).

“World News Tonight” has won the last 277 of 278 weeks in Total Viewers and 205 of the last 208 in Adults 25-54.

Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.004 million) is ranking No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 8th straight year, based on Most Current Data. “World News Tonight” is leading “NBC Nightly News” (6.801 million) by 1.203 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.888 million) by 3.116 million.

“World News Tonight” is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 5th consecutive season. “World News Tonight” is leading NBC in Adults 25-54 (+93,000 – 1.121 million vs. 1.028 million) and in Adults 18-49 (+77,000 – 770,000 vs. 693,000). In addition, “World News Tonight” is leading “CBS Evening News” (702,000 and 478,000, respectively) by 419,000 Adults 25-54 and by 292,000 Adults 18-49.

📺TV SHOW RATINGS RANKER

Ranking is based on ratings data as of Friday, March 22, 2024. The audience figures are derived from the latest Nielsen daily, weekly, or monthly P2+ program audience averages, whichever is the most recently available within the past seven-day window.