Gibson, Williams vie for nightly newscast honors

By Paul J. Gough

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - There's been a lot of ink spilled about Katie Couric and her third-place newscast, but the real battle is for first place.

ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson" and "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" are, in a way, the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama of the evening newscast race. NBC is tops in viewership, but not by much; ABC is tops in adults 25-54, the news demographic coveted by advertisers, but not by much.

It has been this way all season, and it doesn't look as if it's going to change much anytime soon.

"For all intents and purposes, it's a tie ballgame," said Jonathan Banner, executive producer of the ABC newscast. "It's a very competitive race."

NBC averaged 8.9 million viewers compared with ABC's 8.7 million so far this season, according to Nielsen Media Research. In adults 25-54, ABC averaged 2.7 million viewers vs. NBC's 2.68 million. NBC has won or tied for first place in viewers 21 of 30 weeks; ABC has won or tied for first place in the demo the same number.

"We've won the popular vote -- but you're right, we're in the same neighborhood," said Alexandra Wallace, the NBC newscast's executive producer.

It has been a long time since the nightly news ratings have been so close for so long. Traditionally, one star -- whether it be Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings or long ago Dan Rather -- is on top and the others further behind. Now it's a two-man race, with CBS far behind. That's a new feeling for both leading networks.

"It's great that there's such tough competition," Banner said. "We of course would like to be solidly No. 1, and we're trying as hard as we can to do that. But who knows where it's going to end up?"