'Nightly News' ratings dip as NBC mulls next step

Jordan Chariton, The Wrap | USAToday

On Friday, preliminary ratings for Nightly NewsWith Brian Williams were down 36% in the coveted 25-to-54 demographic compared with the previous week's average as controversy swirled around the anchor.

World News Tonightwith David Muir beat Nightly News in total viewers and the younger demographic: 8,461,000 viewers, vs. 7,979,000 viewers; 2,008,000 vs. 1,701,000 demographic viewers.

Although the numbers are preliminary and only for one day, they show the controversy surrounding Williams has affected his show in the short term.

Nightly beat World News Tonight for 280 consecutive weeks in total viewers and four consecutive weeks in the demographic, so how the full week's numbers play out might have an impact on Williams' fate as NBC News executives conduct an internal review on his reporting in Iraq and elsewhere.

It is important to note that Williams' competitors also dipped: ABC was down 16% and CBS down 17% compared with the previous week's average.

On Wednesday, Williams apologized on-air for the "mistake" of conflating being on a helicopter that was shot down by RPG fire during the initial invasion in Iraq vs. being on a trailing helicopter that didn't get hit.

He anchored Thursday and Friday and was center stage as a prominent story in the news cycle last week. CNN, Fox, MSNBC and broadcast networks have covered the Williams controversy, with some of those dubbing it a "scandal" and "credibility crisis."

Digital media also had a field day, with harsh columns coming from The New York Times' Maureen Dowd, the Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik, and others.

After days of heavy press coverage, Williams announced on Saturday that he's stepping away from anchoring for "several days." On Sunday, he canceled his appearance on the Late Show With David Letterman scheduled for Thursday.

Weekend anchor Lester Holt will anchor in Williams' stead.