ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, the nightly newscast on ABC News, has been on top of the network news ratings for years.
It isn’t an outrageous triumph for the Muir-led program. ABC News is obviously a legacy news brand that really only features competition from NBC News — which has continually finished second — and CBS News. It isn’t a crowded marketplace, despite the spot once being basically the television news destination.
I set out to find out why ABC World News Tonight with David Muir is such a ratings juggernaut by watching Monday’s edition of the newscast.
The top story on Monday, naturally, was the death of Pope Francis. But there was also some contextualization about what has happened in the hours following his death. Which feels like the logical place to take the news at 6:30 PM ET. At that point, the news of the pope’s death was more than 13 hours old.
But the Monday newscast began with something that I just despise in news programs. The show started with a nearly two-minute montage of what’s going to be covered in the next 30 minutes. Great, thanks. Spend two minutes — in what is ultimately 20 minutes of content in your show — telling me about what you’re going to cover. Don’t tell me what the news is going to cover, tell me the damn news and why I should care about it!
I’ll continue to shout this until it changes: if you want to build an audience in the Adults 25-54 demographic, you better get into content as fast as possible. Attention spans are short. People are busy. Get to the important stuff, pronto.
So, after the title screen played — and a fantastic voice over noted that the show was beginning — Muir got to the goods. Exactly two minutes into the newscast. I know that doesn’t feel like a long time. But in today’s day and age, two minutes is an eternity. Especially when the content begins and it doesn’t feel as if you would have missed a beat by skipping the two minute preview.
I understand the idea of prepromoting what is going to be coming up and what viewers can expect that evening. Truly. But I think I would rather err on the side of “If we produce interesting, engaging, and compelling content, people aren’t going to leave,” rather than “If we tell them at 6:31 that there will be a story about a plane on fire, they’ll stick around until 6:56 to see it!”
After showcasing the story of the Pope’s death and sharing what his accomplishments over his tenure included, the story — naturally (this is sarcasm) — turned to the time Muir interviewed the Pope a decade ago. Because, yes, the day one of the most famous people on the planet dies, a portion of the top story should be dedicated to “And I interviewed him once!”
Thankfully, a report from James Longman from Vatican City, with more details about the story, including what his final will and wishes included after his death. It was a well-produced story that covered plenty of ground and took the time to showcase a wide variety of opinions and reactions to the news. A live hit with Longman wrapped up the report, but, truthfully, I don’t know how impactful or necessary it was, other than to showcase that ABC News had boots on the ground in Rome.
That led into a package looking at the high-profile interview and town hall between David Muir and Pope Francis. It was billed as a “look back at the life and legacy” of the Pontiff. While I wholly recognize that this is a cynical thought, it felt as if I should expect the purpose of the story was “When you’re thinking about the death of Pope Francis, don’t forget about me!”
The first portion of the package was great. It was a biography of the man who later ascended to the role of the Pope, and not just a look at what Pope Francis accomplished in his time leading the Catholic church.
But then, it shifted. Into a three minute story about Muir’s conversation and town hall with the Pope from a decade ago. I think there’s a time and a place for that kind of content. Mostly, as part of a news special like ABC News aired on Tuesday not. But, to me, it feels horribly out of place during World News Tonight. It feels forced, braggadocious, and ill-timed.
15 minutes into content for the program, David Muir said “We are going to turn to other news here tonight,” which is fine. I’m not saying that the expectation should be that the entire nightly newscast should be dedicated to the passing of the Pope. I dobelieve dedicating roughly 75% of the broadcast to that story is the correct decision. But I don’t believe it was the most judicious, ardent, and prudent use of the network’s resources or of the viewer’s time and attention.
Other stories included in the final five minutes of ABC World News Tonight with David Muir included a Delta plane catching fire on the tarmac in Orlando, the Dow dropping by 1,000 points and why President Donald Trump placed the plane on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth being accused of using the Signal app in another scandal, among others.
To conclude the show, David Muir pitched back to his ABC News colleague in Rome to showcase what happens next as the College of Cardinals prepares to select a new pope in the coming days. This is a pet peeve, but if you explain something as a “centuries old tradition,” then the viewer like doesn’t need it explained. It would be the equivalent of airing a segment about why we have a Leap Day every four years.
Now, do I see why ABC World News Tonight with David Muir is the top dog on the nightly newscast block? Despite my nitpicking, yeah, I can. Muir is undeniably handsome, with a credible tone and serves as smooth, steadying force behind the anchor desk. He brings a certain comfortability that welcomes viewers into the program.
Did I love the content of this program? No, absolutely not. Truth be told, when I viewed a revamped episode of the CBS Evening News on its debut, I thought the content was outstanding. I would place it far and away above the content I saw from ABC News on Monday. But John Dickerson and Maurie DuBois were just getting started with that network’s nightly news audience.
Meanwhile, Muir is — despite being only 51-year-old — completely entrenched and established in his seat. He’s helmed ABC World News Tonight for more than a decade already. And in these positions, often times familiarity is the name of the game. So, in spite of not being completely enthralled by what I saw from the program on Monday evening, I can understand how it continues to best challengers NBC News and CBS News in the nightly newscast battle.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
