The Evening News Ratings War Is Heating Up

'ABC World News' Beats 'NBC Nightly News' In The Demo

"ABC World News" recently beat "NBC Nightly News" in the key 25-54 year-old demo for the first time in eight months.

ABC News won the demo for the week of April 7 by a margin of just 12,000 viewers, according to Nielsen numbers, while NBC News continued to win in total viewers. Still, it is ABC News' first demo win since July 2013, when it won among viewers 25-54 for the first time in almost five years.

It remains to be seen whether the network can sustain its current momentum. The newscast's last victory turned out not to be an indicator of a long-term trend, and the margin this time around is even thinner. The numbers, however, will surely rattle NBC News, which saw "Meet the Press" come in third place again this past quarter and the "Today" show is still solidly in second place after "Good Morning America."

"ABC World News" was up just one percent in the demo last week compared to the same time last year, but "NBC Nightly News" was down 18 percent. Meanwhile, both newscasts lost in total viewers.

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