'NBC Nightly News' Wins 4th Quarter Ratings

"NBC Nightly News" continued its long-running ratings streak in the fourth quarter of 2010, beating its rivals at ABC and CBS by substantial margins.

The Brian Williams-hosted program drew 8.72 million viewers in the fourth quarter. That's compared to 7.56 million viewers for ABC's "World News" and 5.79 million for the "CBS Evening News." Those are the widest gaps between NBC and its rivals since late 2004. In addition, NBC came first in the coveted A25-54 demographic.

Comments

[Artanis71]

09:36 PM on 12/30/2010

Sorry BW I like you but, I cant help seeing you talk to JS in his chat roulette segment, that one cracked me up.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-4-2010/tech-talch---chatroulette

[philosopherkingtomas]

01:12 PM on 12/30/2010

so why such a LONG face!

actually we like Brian Williams.

[RButler]

05:14 AM on 12/30/2010

And O'Reilly brags about getting ~5 million fewer viewers each night. 

[GoldDustDreams]

09:18 PM on 12/30/2010

Yeah I'll never understand that. The craziest ratings story has gotta be Judge Judy where she gets 10 million viewers per day or something hilariously high like that. Now if only they could get Judge Judy to read the news...

[CATNIP1]

07:41 PM on 12/29/2010

Brian Williams did a great multi-part series on Katrina. It was done really well. He's a smart guy with a big heart.

[snapshot1940]

09:58 PM on 12/31/2010

And he did a great interview on The Daily Show later which boosted my respect for both men. How often does a comedy show bring tears to your eyes?

[Philm35]

03:49 PM on 12/29/2010

Nearly half of his 22 minute nightly newscast is filled with light fluff.

[OneHeart]

01:52 PM on 12/29/2010

Why?! All three talking heads on the mainstream are all losers if you ask me.

[tartentart]

03:23 PM on 12/29/2010

You have a very good point about MSM, however if I have to subject myself to MSM news be it anything but Faux Nausea.

[Slash14]

12:06 PM on 12/29/2010

Not hard when you are up against Couric

[nootrope]

03:44 PM on 12/29/2010

Katie Couric is great - way better delivery than stulted w.illiams.

[nootrope]

03:47 PM on 12/29/2010

*stilted, that is.

[ratcityreprobate]

11:51 AM on 12/29/2010

Brian Williams dominates the competition at the tanning salon.

[mamala4]

04:16 AM on 12/30/2010

No one beats Boehner at that.

[Marilyn Gott]

11:34 AM on 12/30/2010

At least Brian doesn't cry when he reports the news.

[merrymay]

09:20 AM on 12/29/2010

These media pundits and reporters look guilty all the time. They know they're sold out and full of it. They all look relieved when they can report on something real.

[SapphireBlaze9]

05:12 AM on 12/29/2010

That's great news, I'm glad for BriWi. But this entire short article is about how good he's doing, and you guys couldn't even get a photo of him with his eyes completely open? C'mon, HP, I've been seeing these terrible photos all over the place. Not cool.

[SapphireBlaze9]

05:17 AM on 12/29/2010

BTW- there's a better pic of him in this article, almost too good to fit its headline: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/26/brian-williams-makes-peni_n_695276.html

[springsm]

01:02 AM on 12/29/2010

It tells you how bad things are when Brian Williams comes out on top all the time. 

[OliverTwist]

12:35 AM on 12/29/2010

Meanwhile NBC and MSNBC continue to feature General McCaffrey - a military contractor and lobbyist - as a adviser on military matters - without revealing his entanglements.

There probably is no retired US general whose objectivity is more compromised by his economic interest and record of entanglement with the pentagon than McCaffrey.

[springsm]

01:03 AM on 12/29/2010

Oh yes, one of the retired military brass who was paid by the Pentagon to wan romantic over the successes in Iraq.  He fairly spit with his enthusiasm on the illegal war in Iraq.  No crecibility has this man.

[calindi]

10:24 PM on 12/28/2010

I only watch network news once or twice a month.
Katie Couric is beginning to grow on me.
 

[OliverTwist]

12:35 AM on 12/29/2010

You should clean up that growth before it causes serious harm.

[calindi]

11:07 AM on 12/29/2010

She's okay...and she bummed a cigarette from a friend of mine about 10 years ago.
 

[Safire]

12:51 PM on 12/30/2010

Wow, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! What, Santa was not good to you?

Well, if you continue with the non-stop snark, Santa won't come see you next year either.

One thing is not liking a person, cool. But another is an obsessive and continuous litany of insults and nay-saying against everyone who posts something positive. Get a grip Oliver, you are going over the edge on this one. Really!

[springsm]

01:05 AM on 12/29/2010

That is how i am feeling too..but I have always liked Katie Couric.  Don't watch much anymore, but I think in comparison to the others, she doesn't get credit.  But then I don't watch CBS either much.

[mamala4]

10:15 PM on 12/28/2010

Brian Williams is a class act.

[OliverTwist]

12:35 AM on 12/29/2010

Nah.

[mamala4]

04:18 AM on 12/30/2010

Yup.

[springsm]

01:06 AM on 12/29/2010

Oh his funeral voice and limited stories are good for you, are they?  Yuk.  You will note that when he went to Haiti, his shirts were prefectly starched with the exact two roll ups of the sleeves.  This guy is well liked but he is as phoney as a 7 dollar bill when it comes to news that ought to at least bring forth an emotion.

[mamala4]

07:42 AM on 12/30/2010

His voice has gotten him far and deservedly so, obviously....if you prefer the perky Couric that is your prerogative but her lack of acumen and seriousness is apparent as evidenced by her poor ratings...while you clearly denounce polls and ratings, they do carry some weight otherwise they wouldn't be performed....BTW, Walter Cronkite, the most respected of newsmen, rarely showed emotion...he did when JFK was assassinated and when we landed on the moon...

[franwnyc]

08:06 PM on 12/28/2010

To paraphrase "Louie" on Taxi, Jon Stewart and Brian Williams are a battle of wits with 2 ARMED men.
Nightly deserves to be number 1. Nothing wrong with the others, but he just looks right and sounds right!