Tony Dokoupil’s ‘CBS Evening News’ Debut Draws 4.37 Million, Trails ABC and NBC

CBS points to gains over recent averages despite a wide gap with competitors.

Overview

Nielsen figures show 4.37 million viewers for CBS, compared with 8.24 million for ABC’s World News Tonight and 7.21 million for NBC Nightly News.
In adults 25-54, CBS averaged 596,000 viewers versus roughly 1.1 million for NBC and 1.02 million for ABC.
The debut fell 23% from the same day a year earlier, when CBS drew 5.69 million and 805,000 in the 25-54 demo.
Monday’s audience trailed the Jan. 27 revamped CBS broadcast with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, which drew 5.35 million and 774,000 in the demo.
CBS notes the telecast beat its Q4 averages (4.03 million total, 502,000 demo) and rose 9% in viewers and 20% in the demo versus the season-to-date baseline.