How Network News Stands After Brian Williams' Departure
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Could this be the rise of Scott Pelley and CBS? (Photos: CBS, ABC and NBC)
Nielsen released numbers for the first Wednesday NBC Nightly News was stripped of Williams' name, and they show ratings have fallen double-digits, according to Deadline Hollywood.
ABC's World News Tonight beat out Nightly News by 347,000 viewers Wednesday night when Lester Holt took over anchor duties, as reported by Medialife Magazine.
SEE ALSO: Some #AdviceForYoungJournalists Based On The Legacies Of David Carr, Ned Colt And Bob Simon
The Wednesday before that, when Williams was still at the desk, Nightly outperformed World News by almost 400,000 viewers. This is a trend the evening newscast had grown used to, beating out World News by 600,000 at one point, reports Newsmax.
But where does CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley stand in all of this?
It's difficult to tell, with preliminary numbers only available for the always heated competition between ABC and NBC. But the death of Bob Simon may have been ratings boost. According to Deadline, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley scored its biggest ratings of the week.
On a grander scale, CBS ranked No. 2 in week-to-week comparisons. While NBC fell -36%, CBS' Friday ratings were only -17% lower than they were the week of Feb. 2. ABC saw a -16% change, as reported by TVNewser. It's also worth noting that in the Pew Research Center's State of the Media report from 2012, CBS Evening News was the only network news program to see an increase in audience.
However, the ratings aren't the only things networks are looking at. They're also looking at how receptive audiences are of their programming and anchors on the web—via their websites and on social media, alike.
Here's what viewers are saying about the big three.
Who's Going To Replace Lester Holt On The Weekends?
I Guess I'll Give Scott Pelley A Chance
Yeah, TV News, Period, Just Doesn't Work For Me, Williams Or No Williams
RELATED LINKS:
What The Brian Williams Mess Teaches Us About Management Credibility (Forbes)
Is Network News Dead (New York Times)
CEOs Can Learn From Brian Williams' Mistakes (Philadelphia Business Journal)
