via press release:

“NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH BRIAN WILLIAMS” WINS THE SECOND QUARTER 2009 IN ALL CATEGORIES

FOR THE QUARTER, NBC TOPS ABC BY 797K AND CBS BY MORE THAN 2.5 MILLION TOTAL VIEWERS

“NBC NIGHTLY NEWS” IS THE ONLY EVENING NEWSCAST TO POST YEAR-TO-YEAR GROWTH

ABC AND CBS POST LOWEST SECOND QUARTER TOTAL VIEWER DELIVERY IN NIELSEN HISTORY

NEW YORK – June, 30 2009 – “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” was the most-watched network evening newscast for the second quarter of 2008 topping the competition in total viewers, homes, and the key demographic adults 25-54, according to Nielsen Media Research data. For the second quarter, “Nightly News” attracted 8.053 million total viewers, +797,000 more than ABC “World News’” 7.256 million, and a +2.506 million lead over CBS “Evening News’” 5.547 million. “Nightly” grew by +86,000 total viewers versus the second quarter of 2008, while both ABC (-407,000) and CBS (-48,000) declined year-to-year. “Nightly” had its best second quarter delivery since the second quarter of 2006 and its best second quarter advantage over ABC since 2003.

Both ABC and CBS experienced their lowest second quarter delivery in total viewers and homes delivery in Nielsen history (since at least the start of People Meters).

Among the key demographic adults 25-54, “NBC Nightly News” was top rated with at 1.9 rating. ABC was second with a 1.7 and CBS was third with a 1.3 rating. This is “Nightly’s” best second quarter advantage over both ABC and CBS since second quarter of 2003.

In homes, “Nightly” also placed first during the second quarter, posting a 5.4 rating and a 12 share. ABC was second with a 4.9/11 and CBS was third with a 3.8/8.