Will the surge of network nightly news viewership have staying power?

Variety

NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News and ABC's World News Tonight have seen their viewership soar amid the coronavirus pandemic. "Between March 16 and April 7, about 31 million people tuned in to watch one of the three broadcast network evening shows, according to Nielsen, a massive jump of 42% from the 21.9 million who watched during the same period a year ago," says Brian Steinberg. Even PBS' NewsHour has seen its ratings club, with viewership up 34%. But will viewers keep watching after the pandemic? “I think the surge of nightly news viewership is largely an anomaly based on the crisis we’re in, but it’s an anomaly that’s likely to continue for many months, given the probable duration of the pandemic,” says Mark Feldstein, chair of broadcast journalism at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.