ABC News Wins February Sweeps in Morning, Evening for First Time in 23 Years

“World News Tonight,” “Good Morning America” and “20/20” top NBC in total viewers

David.Muir.Cuba.Photo
ABC

ABC News executives have something to celebrate this weekend, as both the network’s evening and morning newscasts won February Sweeps among total viewers for the first time in 23 years.

“World News Tonight with David Muir” averaged 8.79 million viewers, topping NBC’s “Nightly News,” which averaged 8.73 million viewers. “CBS Evening News” finished third, averaging 7.7 million total viewers.

After also winning the 2016 November sweep, “World News Tonight” has now won the November and February sweeps back-to-back for the first time since November 1995 and February 1996 when Peter Jennings was anchor.

On the morning side, “Good Morning America” averaged 4.69 million viewers, compared to 4.32 for NBC’s “Today” show. “CBS This Morning” finished third, averaging 3.76 million viewers. The “GMA” victory is its fifth straight February win and 19th consecutive sweep victory among Total Viewers.

While the total viewers victories are a significant achievement for ABC, it should be noted that NBC’s “Nightly News” and “Today” both finished atop the key news demo of adults age 25-54.

In addition to the evening and morning newscast total viewers wins, ABC’s “20/20” beat NBC’s “Dateline” in the 10 p.m. hour in both total viewers and the demo, averaging 4.6 million viewers compared to 3.7 million for NBC.

It should be noted that “Nightly News” and “Dateline” are No. 1 this season to date, in both total viewers and the demo.

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