ABC's Muir, Democratic convention on cable TV lead ratings

NEW YORK (AP) - In this pandemic season, ABC's David Muir has emerged as broadcast television's star of the summer.

The 'œWorld News Tonight'ť anchor's nightly summary averaged 8.2 million viewers last week, more than any prime-time program on television, the Nielsen company said.

ABC's prime-time interview of the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, conducted by Muir and Robin Roberts, reached 5.1 million viewers Sunday.

Otherwise, coverage of the Democratic National Convention on MSNBC and CNN dominated the ratings.

CBS' prime time average of 3 million viewers topped the broadcast networks, followed by ABC at 2.6 million, NBC at 2.4 million, Univision at 1.3 million, ION Television at 1.24 million, Fox at 1.21 million and Telemundo at 1 million.

MSNBC led the cable networks with a 3.27 million average in prime time, Fox News Channel had 3.09 million, CNN had 2.77 million, TNT had 1.51 million and HGTV had 1.32 million.

ABC's 'œWorld News Tonight'ť won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8.2 million viewers, NBC's 'œNightly News'ť had 6.8 million and the 'œCBS Evening News'ť had 4.9 million.

For the week of Aug. 17-23, the 20 most popular prime-time programs, their networks and viewerships:

1. 'œ60 Minutes,'ť CBS, 7.23 million.

2. 'œBiden's Acceptance Speech,'ť MSNBC, 6.24 million viewers.

3. 'œDemocratic Convention" (Wednesday), MSNBC, 6.2 million.

4. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 5.84 million.

5. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Thursday), MSNBC, 5.69 million.

6. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Thursday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 5.58 million.

7. 'œAmerica's Got Talent'ť (Tuesday), NBC, 5.579 million.

8. 'œYellowstone,'ť Paramount, 5.16 million.

9. 'œAmerica's Got Talent'ť (Wednesday), NBC, 5.14 million.

10. 'œBiden and Harris Interview,'ť ABC, 5.11 million.

11. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Wednesday, 8:56 p.m.), CNN, 4.89 million.

12. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Monday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 4.86 million.

13. 'œAmerica's Funniest Home Videos,'ť ABC, 4.66 million.

14. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Monday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 4.6 million.

15. 'œNCIS,'ť CBS, 4.59 million.

16. 'œHannity'ť (Thursday), Fox News, 4.56 million.

17. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Thursday, 8:46 p.m.), CNN, 4.4 million.

18. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Monday), MSNBC, 4.38 million.

19. 'œDemocratic Convention'ť (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 4.3 million.

20. 'œTucker Carlson Tonight'ť (Thursday), Fox News, 4.29 million.