"NBC Nightly News" Easily Wins 2008-2009 Season, Up Year-Over-Year

While the conventional wisdom says the evening news is dying, "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" actually grew year-over-year, easily winning the 2008-2009 season ratings race in the process.

"NBC Nightly News" averaged 8.609 million total viewers, 10% more than ABC's second-place "World News" (7.818 million) and 42% more than the "CBS Evening News" (6.053 million).

What's more impressive, though, is the NBC broadcast's year-over-year growth. "Nightly News" added 88,000 total viewers for the 2008-2009 season, while ABC's "World News" lost 363,000 viewers and the "CBS Evening News" lost 103,000 viewers.

Comments

[Lori Bowles]

02:29 PM on 09/27/2009

Its easy to win when the only other competitio­n is on the comedy channel. Come on these guys need to be held to a much higher standard then what they currently are. The real news has been so intertwine­d with entertainm­ent its become laughable, there really is no investigat­ive journalism anymore.
Glad they won but its almost like a pathedic pat on the back.

[mom of three]

12:56 AM on 09/27/2009

I've seen several comments "touting" O'Reilly's numbers at an "average" of 5 million. That's simply NOT TRUE.

Faux News had an incredible week this week -- Bill-O's show still had less than 1 million during the prime-time hour. Combine all three episodes that aired, and he has less than 2.5 million viewers -- on a GOOD week. And for those of you attempting to compare Faux News to MSNBC, keep in mind that Faux News is a part of the "basic" cable coverage of most carriers -- whereas MSNBC is considered in the "upgraded" packages that cost more per month.

Just sayin'.

http://www­.mediabist­ro.com/tvn­ewser/rati­ngs/

[mom of three]

12:46 AM on 09/27/2009

Good to know that ABC News lost the largest number of total viewers. They have been an incredible disappoint­ment. Charles Gibson lead the pack in the cynical, condescend­ing way in which he covered President Obama's campaign and election.

The way in which Gibson walked in lock-step along with the Right-wing talking points was clear. For that -- his network paid the price.

[totalliberal]

12:16 AM on 09/28/2009

And Gibson. He got fired.

[springsm]

07:22 PM on 09/26/2009

Sadly enough it must be because most people think Brian WIlliams is honest when he delivers the news.

[BambooHarvester]

12:50 PM on 09/26/2009

Wins What ?
~ a used condom !

[Dark Sphere]

06:00 AM on 09/26/2009

The perky one won't be happy with the results. Although, her ratings probably doubled for the year after she had Beck on for one night...Sh­e should have more conservati­ves on, then she will take the lead for the first time..ever­..

[OhComeOnNow]

10:25 AM on 09/26/2009

But that would siphon the viewership away from FOX !
Fox would not allow that to happen - you know how they feel about their ratings!
;-)

[Ifticar2]

04:32 AM on 09/26/2009

The amazing fact that is not reported here is that Cable News O'Reilly Factor is catching up with the best of the network news shows. Bill averages 5 million viewers per night.

[swellsoire]

01:05 PM on 09/26/2009

Millions of television viewers will watch forty cars turn left for three hours, but I wouldn't call it an enlighteni­ng experience­.

[Ifticar2]

05:30 PM on 09/26/2009

I can understand that. Liberals do not like competitio­n or competitiv­e events.

[LemonMeringue]

08:50 PM on 09/25/2009

Williams was completely adorable on the Jon Stewart show. They jabbed each other in the most intelligen­t ways. Both of them: class acts.

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

11:13 AM on 09/27/2009

...you mean the same brian williams who is a regular limbaugh listener?

[query]

03:14 PM on 09/25/2009

I LOVE BRIAN WILLIAMS. He is hilarious, honorable, and cute to boot!

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

11:17 AM on 09/27/2009

The corporate reich is always good at hiring spokes models.
ronny reagun was kind of personable too.

[dutch163]

10:02 AM on 09/25/2009

that is because Brian Williams is GREAT!
and it is one of the most reliable news shows

[mamala4]

01:15 PM on 09/25/2009

As compared to David Gregory who STINKS!

[dillydawg]

01:56 PM on 09/25/2009

Agree.

[query]

03:16 PM on 09/25/2009

Amen. David Gregory has a long way to go before I watch his show.

[dillydawg]

01:56 PM on 09/25/2009

Well kind of. In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

[doza78]

09:16 AM on 09/25/2009

All this article did was compare the ratings of NBC Nightly News to other national news shows. It doesn't even mention cable news ratings and how they compare to MSNBC. Every tv in America gets these stations unlike cable. When you compare FOX NEWS to other cable news outlets, FOX wins by a mile! I wouldn't get too excited about what this article says.

[Lemeritus]

10:22 AM on 09/25/2009

And here is the heart of the matter:

Once upon a time, the entire country stopped what it was doing to watch the nighty news, mostly Walter Cronkite. Conservati­ves, liberals, NYC to Podunk IN, everyone was on the same page. The anchors set the tone for national debate. Kooks were ignored or rightly criticized­. The nation was knit together.

Then along came FOX.

Now you may want to score some points, doza78, by comparing FOX to MSNBC. You may even want to insinuate that everyone with cable watches FOX (which would be wrong -- though everyone who responds to bright primary colors and feels bigger by having their fears acknowledg­ed nightly can be counted among FOX viewers). The fact is, however, most Americans continue to get their news from one of three broadcast networks; cable news is dust in comparison­, both FOX and MSNBC combined.

Care to wonder why, my friend? I prefer to think that most of the country still wants to be knit together in ways neither FOX nor MSNBC can accomplish­.

[mom of three]

12:51 AM on 09/27/2009

Well said.

[inorbit]

01:53 PM on 09/25/2009

Fox "News" is not news - it's opinion. CNN has become tabloid news and MSNBC - as much as I love Rachel and Keith, slants to the left. I watch Brian Williams so that I can get the unbiased facts.

[kdlaiusa]

02:16 AM on 09/25/2009

Hey Billo, what you gonna say about NBC? Still a disaster?

[InfosolutionWiz]

03:07 AM on 09/25/2009

EXACTLY!! I am going to start to watch it.

[haveyounodecency]

11:44 PM on 09/24/2009

It's a great broadcast. I try to watch it every night.

[BritishColumbian]

06:47 PM on 09/24/2009

Too bad that world news has been reduced in America to less than 22 minutes per weekday and that is a stretch as most of it is about the US. Coupled with the fact that only 32% of Americans have passports accounts for the total lack of knowledge about the rest of the world.

[bzb]

07:46 PM on 09/24/2009

32% where did you hear that?

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

04:41 PM on 09/24/2009

...now if they could start telling people
all about the "State of the Plutocrocy­".
BREAK UP CORP. MEDIA!
BREAK UP G E !!!