NBC's Nightly News wrapped the
evening news season on top - the program's 14th year as
broadcast evening news leader. But all of the evening newscasts are down
year-to-year for the just-completed 2009-2010 season, which runs from September
to September.
Nightly News with Brian Williams averaged 8.56 million viewers for the season, down 138,000
year-to-year. ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer, which started
the season with Charles Gibson as anchor, finished with 7.56 million viewers, down
256,000 and the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric finished the season with
5.71 million viewers, down 343,000.
Last year's season averages encompassed coverage
of the 2008 presidential election, which generated higher news tune-in overall.
But the year that just ended has also been marked by big news events, both domestic
and international, including the earthquake in Haiti and the BP oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico.
