Nightline Beats Tonight Show Amongst Total Viewers for the First Time Since 1995 for a Feb Sweep

ABC News Nightline placed second among Adults 25-54, Adults 18-49, and Total Viewers, for the just completed February sweep, according to Nielsen Media Research. Additionally, Nightline tied CBS and NBC for first in the A25-54 rating (1.3). This marks the first time Nightline outperformed “The Tonight Show” among Total Viewers for a February sweep since 1995. Nightline also posted its best A25-54 demo delivery for a sweep since November 2008. Among A18-49, Nightline increased its lead over CBS by +43% versus the November sweep. *Note: for the February Sweep “The Tonight Show” is based on 9 telecasts due to the Olympics, while “Letterman” is 20 and Nightline is 18.
 
For the week of March 1, 2010, Nightline placed second among Adults 18-49 and tied “Letterman” in the A18-49 rating (1.0). Week to week, Nightline increased +11% among Total Viewers, +13% among A25-54 and +15% among A18-49.  Season to date, Nightline continues to rank second among Total Viewers (3.89 million) and is tied for second among Adults 18-49 (1.32 million / 1.0 rating) and Adults 25-54 (1.58 million/ 1.3 rating).

ABC News’ Nightline is anchored by Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir. John Donvan and Vicki Mabrey are correspondents. James Goldston is the executive producer. The program airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.