Tom Llamas is proving to be a success as the new anchor of NBC Nightly News, as the program beat its ABC rival, David Muir, in the key demo for the first time on Tuesday (July 8).
According to Nielsen ratings, NBC Nightly News averaged 904,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 demo on Tuesday, while ABC World News Tonight averaged 891,000. This marks the first time since Llamas took over from longtime host Lester Holt that Nightly News has topped Muir’s show in the key demo.
Compared to the same day the year prior, Nightly News was up 9% in the 25-54 demo while ABC dipped by 8%. Nightly News is also leading ABC in the 18-49 demo, averaging 677,000 on Monday (July 7) and 624,000 on Tuesday; in comparison, ABC averaged 668,000 on Monday and 575,000 on Tuesday.
Llamas took the reins of Nightly News on June 2, and his first month in the chair marked the closest June demo gaps with ABC in five years. It was also the only evening newscast to grow year-over-year in the demos, enjoying a 7% increase in the 25-54 demo.
Despite this week’s demo victories, Nightly News is still trailing World News Tonight in total viewers. ABC averaged 7.09 million viewers on Tuesday, while NBC brought in 5.81 million.
June was a significant month for ABC, which achieved its largest ratings win in three decades. For the month, Muir and the network averaged 7.31 million viewers, compared to NBC and Llamas’ 5.67 million. ABC also increased 1% year-over-year, while NBC increased 0.4% compared to the same period last year.
In addition to Nightly News, Llamas also anchors Top Story, which streams on NBC News Now.
“Anchoring NBC Nightly News is a profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility,” Llamas said in a statement earlier this year. “I look forward to working with the world class journalists at Nightly News and Top Story to bring viewers the most important stories every night.”
He added, “Lester Holt is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time. Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”