Viewership for the nightly newscasts on television has been slipping for years, but the Big Three networks are finding hefty and growing audiences online.
What's driving that growth is the opportunity for visitors to catch up on the news by streaming video newscasts.
All three newscasts now offer a webcast, with NBC and CBS posting replays of that day’s TV broadcast and ABC producing a separate, web-only newscast that airs live at 3 p.m.
All three are attracting strong traffic for their streaming video, and all the sites have grown compared with last year.
ABC, CBS and NBC saw their market share of visits among all U.S. web sites increase by double-digit percentages over last year in July, according to data compiled by Hitwise, the online tracking company.
Just why this growth has occurred isn’t hard to figure out.
One of the biggest knocks against the nightly newscasts is that they air at 6:30 p.m. People are still coming home from work, or they're picking up kids from soccer practice.
The online newscasts give viewers a chance to set their own time to get the news, meaning the sites will probably grow more in the coming years.
ABCNews.com’s July traffic was up 60 percent over last year, to 20.4 million unique visitors. Video views soared 139 percent over last year, while the network’s mobile site, m.abcnews.com, was up 77 percent in page views.
“World News with Charles Gibson’s” daily webcast is available for replay online each day after it airs live, and it’s also distributed as a podcast on iTunes and via mobile phones. Though ABC does not release specific numbers for the webcast, two ABC News webcasts ranked in the top five of the news programs section on iTunes yesterday.
CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” is posted online nightly after it airs on television, but the network has also made an effort to put its video on other sites as well. CBS News content is available on more than 300 web sites, and the network often sees spikes from buzzy videos posted on its outside partners.
A CBS News video of a hit and run accident in Hartford, for example, received 1.2 million streams on AOL earlier this summer. And on CBS’s YouTube channel, three of the top five videos are from CBS News.
Like “World News,” “Evening News” is also available as a free podcast on iTunes.
NBC may have the strongest online platform of any network. It’s part of the MSNBC.com conglomerate, whose many sub-sites command a 17.2 percent share of the online news category, according to Hitwise, compared to 2.7 percent for ABCNews.com and 1.32 percent for CBSNews.com.
Last week, the week ended Aug. 10, “Nightly News with Brian Williams” delivered 2.5 million streams, up 14 percent over the prior week’s 2.2 million. On its best weeks, such as during the heat of the primary season, “Nightly” delivers more than 3 million.
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Meanwhile, in evening network news for the week ended Aug. 10, NBC’s “Nightly News” was first among total viewers, averaging 7.77 million, and among 25-54s with a 1.9 average rating. ABC’s “World News” was second in viewers, averaging 7.19 million, and in 25-54s with a 1.7 rating, while CBS’s “Evening News” was third for the week with 5.99 million total viewers and a 1.5 25-54 rating.
Meanwhile, in other dayparts for the week ended Aug. 3, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 3.3 million tuning in, and among viewers 25-54 with a 0.9 rating. CBS’s “Face the Nation” was second in viewers with 2.24 million, but third among 25-54s with a 0.5, with ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” pulling 2.19 million viewers and a 0.6 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” averaged 1.15 million viewers and a 0.4 rating among 25-54s.
In late night, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” was first for the week, averaging 4.5 million total viewers and a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” had 3.0 million viewers and a 0.8 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 2.9 million viewers and a 0.8 18-49 rating. In late-late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 1.7 million total viewers and a 0.7 in 18-49s, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 1.4 million viewers and a 0.5, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 1.3 million viewers and a 0.4 (including a Monday encore), and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 900,000 viewers and a 0.4 among 18-49s in repeats.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 4.84 million total viewers and a 3.8 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 3.92 million viewers and a 3.0/12. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.31 million total viewers and a 1.8/7.
CBS once again had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 3.66 million viewers, and tied for first among women 18-49 with a 1.2 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 2.72 million viewers, and also tied for first among women 18-49 with a 1.2 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.55 million and was third among women 18-49 with a 1.1 rating.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending August 3, 2008
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.5 |
8 |
0.9
|
3.302 |
|
Face the Nation |
CBS |
1.7 |
5 |
0.5 |
2.236 |
|
This Week With George Stephanopoulos |
ABC |
1.6 |
5 |
0.6 |
2.187 |
|
News Sunday |
Fox |
0.9 |
3 |
0.4 |
1.145 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending August 3, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
4.5 |
1.2 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
3.0 |
0.8 |
|
Nightline |
ABC |
2.9 |
0.8 |
|
Late Night with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
1.7 |
0.7 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.4 |
0.5 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live** |
ABC |
1.3 |
0.4 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly* |
NBC |
0.9 |
0.4 |
|
*Encore telecasts
**Encore telecast on Monday
Source: NTI
|
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending August 3, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today |
NBC |
3.8 |
15 |
4.84 |
|
Good Morning
America |
ABC |
3.0 |
12 |
3.92 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
1.8 |
7 |
2.31 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending August 3, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS |
3.66 |
1.2 |
|
ABC |
2.72 |
1.2 |
|
NBC |
2.55 |
1.1 |
|
Source: NTI |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending August 10, 2008
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams |
NBC |
1.9 |
7.771 |
|
ABC World News with Charles Gibson |
ABC |
1.7 |
7.191 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric |
CBS |
1.5 |
5.987 |
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending August 3, 2008
|
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
6.4
|
7192
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
5.5
|
6149
|
|
3
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
4.5
|
5068
|
|
3
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.5
|
5040
|
|
5
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.1
|
4650
|
|
6
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.8
|
4324
|
|
6
|
BUENA VISTA
VI
|
DAD
|
3.8
|
4245
|
|
6
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.8
|
4241
|
|
9
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.6
|
4067
|
|
9
|
CSI MIAMI-SYN (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.6
|
4029
|
|
11
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.3
|
3762
|
|
12
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
3.1
|
3552
|
|
13
|
CENTURY 19
|
2/T
|
3.0
|
3379
|
|
14
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
2.9
|
3325
|
|
14
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
2.9
|
3324
|
|
14
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.9
|
3310
|
|
17
|
LAW & ORDER:SVU-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
2.8
|
3195
|
|
18
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
2.7
|
3039
|
|
18
|
FRIENDS (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3034
|
|
20
|
KING OF QUEENS-SYN (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.6
|
2975
|
|
20
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
2.6
|
2933
|
|
20
|
INSIDE EDITION
|
CTD
|
2.6
|
2928
|
|
23
|
GEORGE LOPEZ WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.4
|
2732
|
|
23
|
KING OF QUEENS-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.4
|
2681
|
|
23
|
JUDGE JOE BROWN (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.4
|
2670
|
|
Source: Nielsen Media Research |
