The closing days of the presidential election are upon us, but the deadlocked race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be piquing viewer interest in the evening newscasts. The week of Oct. 21 saw a mixed bag of ratings results for the three broadcast networks.

On the positive side, ABC News and NBC News both experienced modest viewership growth in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo. Unfortunately, CBS News saw week-to-week declines in both of those measured categories.

Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight are based on three days (Tuesday – Thursday). Monday’s (10/21/24) broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC due to Monday Night Football. Friday’s (10/25/24) broadcasts was also retitled to WNT-ABC. Nightly News’ weekly averages are based on four days (Monday-Thursday) with Friday’s (10/25/24) broadcast being retitled to Nitely News. These broadcasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages.

ABC World News with David Muir averaged 7.325 million total viewers and 1.045 million A25-54 viewers for the week. It was up by +1% in the former category and +2% in the latter compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance alongside the same week in 2023 (the week of Oct. 23), WNT was down -5% in total viewers and -3% in the demo.

NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt was the No. 2 broadcast in both measured categories, averaging 5.846 million total viewers and 909,000 A25-54 viewers. That translates to week-to-week gains of +2% and an impressive +11%, respectively. Year-to-year, Nightly News was down -11% in total viewers and -14% in the demo. 

CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell had 4.317 million total viewers and 621,000 viewers in the demo, for losses of -2% and -9%, respectively. Compared to its year-ago week numbers, it was down by -8% in total viewers and -12% in the demo.

Nielsen live-plus-same-day averages for the week of October 21, 2024: