NBC News has to be ecstatic with the two-fer they pulled off by suspending the disgraced Brian Williams for six months. The suspension killed the media fury around Williams’ serial lies and Williams’ replacement, Lester Holt, has managed to hold the telecast in first place.
Sighs of relief from the direction of 30 Rock: NBC Nightly News Minus Brian Williams posted week-to-week gains in total viewers (up 7%, translating to 673,000 viewers), the news demo (11%, or 262,000 viewers), and among 18-49 year olds (up 9%, or 147,000 viewers) the week of February 16.
For those of us who have always believed that Holt, not Williams, should’ve replaced Tom Brokaw, this is even better news.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC