This is a corrected version of the story. An earlier version in today’s issue incorrectly referred to NBC in the headline. It is the CBS “Evening News” that hit an all-time low. Media Life regrets the error.
The broadcast networks’ evening newscasts have been losing viewers for a generation as people shifted to 24-hour cable news networks and the internet.
But that didn’t make it any easier for ABC and CBS last week when each network saw its evening news program sink to an all-time ratings low.
Certainly, a contributing factor was that both CBS's Katie Couric and ABC's Charles Gibson were on vacation. There's also the arrival of summer, a slow time for TV viewing generally.
Yet another likely factor is a decline in the big stories that have dominated the news for much of the past year, from the race to the White House to the collapse of the U.S. economy and efforts by the new president to put things back together.
In fact, all three networks were down last week. The difference was that in the case of ABC and CBS, the declines reached into record territory.
ABC’s “World News” attracted an average 6.4 million viewers for the week, its smallest audience since Nielsen began using its people meter to track national TV audiences in the 1980s. That was down from just shy of 7 million viewers the prior week.
“Evening News with Katie Couric” drew an audience of just under 4.9 million viewers, its lowest ever, and down from 5.4 million viewers the prior week.
Both networks also hit historic lows in adults 25-54, their target demographic, ABC with a 1.4 and CBS with a 1.1.
NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” the longtime No. 1 show, fared better, drawing 7.8 million total viewers for the week, but it was also down by roughly the same number of viewers as ABC and CBS. The prior week it averaged just under 8.3 million viewers. NBC had a 1.8 rating in 25-54s
Last week's NBC ratings didn’t include Thursday or Friday, when the broadcast was temporarily retitled “Nitely News” during NBC’s U.S. Open coverage.
***
In daypart ratings for the week ended June 14, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was the most-watched Sunday morning show with 3.10 million tuning in, followed by CBS’s “Face the Nation” with 2.64 million viewers, ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” with 2.33 million and Fox “News Sunday” with 1.04 million. Among the 25-54 demographic, NBC averaged a 0.9 rating followed by CBS at 0.7, ABC at 0.6 and Fox at 0.4.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first for the week with 5.3 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.1 million and CBS’s “Early Show” with 2.5 million. “Today” averaged a 4.0 household rating and a 15 share, followed by “Good Morning America” at 3.1/11 and “Early Show” at 1.9/7.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” led the week with 3.8 million total viewers, followed by CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” with 3.7 million and ABC’s “Nightline” with 3.4 million. In late late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” drew 1.9 million viewers, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” bringing in 1.7 million and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” 1.0 million. Among 18-49s, “Tonight” averaged a 1.5 rating, followed by “Nightline” at 1.0 and “Late Show” at 0.9. In late late night, “Late Night” averaged a 0.9 rating, with “Kimmel” at 0.6 and “Late Late Show” and “Last Call” at 0.5 (with a Monday rerun for “Last Call” and Monday and Wednesday encores for “Kimmel”).
In daytime for the week ended June 7, CBS was first with 3.26 million total viewers, ABC second with 2.75 million and NBC third with 2.66 million. Among women 18-49, NBC was first with a 1.3 rating, followed by ABC at 1.2 and CBS at 1.0.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending June 14, 2009
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.2 |
7 |
0.9 |
3.099 |
|
Face the Nation
|
CBS |
1.7 |
5 |
0.7 |
2.642 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos
|
ABC |
1.7 |
5 |
0.6 |
2.330 |
|
News Sunday
|
Fox |
0.8 |
2 |
0.3 |
1.035 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending June 14, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
3.8 |
1.5 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
3.7 |
0.9 |
|
Nightline
|
ABC |
3.4 |
1.0 |
|
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon |
NBC |
1.9 |
0.9 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.7 |
0.5 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live* |
ABC |
1.7 |
0.6 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly* |
NBC |
1.0 |
0.5 |
|
* Monday's "Last Call" and the Monday and Wednesday "Kimmel" telecasts were encores.
Source: NTI |
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending June 14, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today
|
NBC |
4.0 |
15 |
5.299 |
|
Good Morning
America
|
ABC |
3.1 |
11 |
4.106 |
|
Early Show
|
CBS |
1.9 |
7 |
2.457 |
|
Source: NTI
|
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending June 7, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS
|
3.26 |
1.0 |
|
ABC
|
2.75 |
1.2 |
|
NBC
|
2.66 |
1.3 |
|
Source: NTI
|
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending June 21, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
|
NBC |
1.8 |
7.754 |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson
|
ABC |
1.4 |
6.424 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
|
CBS |
1.1 |
4.888 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research
|
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending June 14, 2009 |
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
5.8
|
6605
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
5.0
|
5676
|
|
3
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
4.2
|
4755
|
|
4
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.1
|
4639
|
|
5
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.9
|
4493
|
|
6
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.8
|
4337
|
|
7
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.5
|
4051
|
|
8
|
CSI NEW YORK-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.1
|
3552
|
|
9
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.0
|
3430
|
|
10
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.8
|
3245
|
|
10
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
2.8
|
3221
|
|
10
|
INSIDE EDITION (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.8
|
3169
|
|
10
|
LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
2.8
|
3237
|
|
10
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
2.8
|
3180
|
|
15
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3090
|
|
16
|
KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)
|
2/T
|
2.6
|
3002
|
|
17
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
2.5
|
2885
|
|
18
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.4
|
2751
|
|
19
|
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.3
|
2642
|
|
20
|
TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.2
|
2549
|
|
20
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
2.2
|
2471
|
|
20
|
BUENA VISTA
VI
|
DAD
|
2.2
|
2474
|
|
23
|
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.1
|
2394
|
|
23
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
2.1
|
2394
|
|
23
|
HOUSE OF PAYNE MF-SYN(AT)
|
2/T
|
2.1
|
2417
|
|
23
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.1
|
2398
|
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research
|
