Which of the three networks is on top in the evening news?
This was once a vital question. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the evening newscasts contributed big profits to the networks. For even longer, being No. 1 in nightly news was a key to a network's brand, adding prestige. It gave the news divisions not only bragging rights, but better access to newsmakers as well.
For much of that time, the history of network news was characterized by several distinct eras. In the early 1960s, the "Huntley-Brinkley Report" on NBC dominated. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Walter Cronkite on CBS was No. 1, and that newscast continued to lead for some time in the 1980s when Dan Rather took over. NBC News was emerging as No. 1 until General Electric took over the network in the mid-1980s and made moves that caused the network to temporarily stumble. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Peter Jennings' ABC "World News Tonight" dominated. And in the late 1990s, a resurgent NBC saw Tom Brokaw on top, although this owed more to the other networks losing viewers than NBC gaining.13 [1]
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November 1993 to November 2003
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Source: Nielsen Media Research unpublished data, www.nielsenmedia.com
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Throughout 2003, NBC had a narrow edge in ratings, followed closely by ABC, then, farther back, by CBS.14 [3]
To understand the race, consider the fortunes of each network over the last decade. Using numbers from the critical November sweeps month, the CBS "Evening News" with Dan Rather has seen the biggest decline. Its viewership has fallen 37 percent in the last decade (from 13.1 million viewers in 1993 to 8.3 million in 2003), and even more since 1980. "World News Tonight's" viewership on ABC has fallen 29 percent (from 14.3 million viewers in 1993 to 10.1 million in 2003). NBC's "Nightly News" has fallen the least, but still a substantial 18 percent (from 13.3 million viewers in 1993 to 10.9 million in 2003), according to Nielsen data. These Nielsen numbers actually show a near 2 percentage-point gain for NBC in the last year.15 [4] NBC's "Nightly News" took over the No. 1 spot in 1997, and has remained there most weeks since.
Why has NBC fared better generally over the last seven years? A detailed analysis of one program over another is not the focus of this report. But some mention of possible factors can show how complicated the mix of variables can be. NBC has the advantage of having a cable network and one of the biggest news sites online with MSNBC.com, which was launched in 1996. Strategically, each of the brands was supposed to reinforce each other. Loyalists to MSNBC.com would naturally turn to its siblings when they wanted broadcast (NBC) or cable (MSNBC) or even financial news (CNBC). NBC has almost one minute more of news content above the three networks' average, which, given channel switching during commercials, is probably also significant. In addition, the popularity of the "Today Show" in the morning may be another factor, building loyalty to NBC News as a brand, which spills over into viewers watching the network's nightly news as well. According to at least one survey by TV Guide, Tom Brokaw is the most trusted anchor on television, either network or cable, although it is not known whether this is a result of Brokaw's audience size or the cause of it.16 [5] Another important factor was that during much of this period, NBC had the most successful prime time lineup of the three networks.
It must be stressed, however, that NBC took the No. 1 spot more because of ABC losses than NBC gains. In 1994, when NBC was third in the ratings, it had 11 percent more viewers than it does today, when it is No. 1.