ABC's World News Tonight evening newscast has officially overtaken underfire rival NBC's Nightly News in the ratings war for the first time in more than five and a half years. NBC's 288 consecutive week winning run had stetched back to September 2009 and the drop from the top spot comes two months after anchor Brian Williams received a six-month suspension for misleading viewers about his coverage of the Iraq War in 2003. According to Nielsen ratings, ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir attracted 84,000 more viewers for the week ending April 3, with the show pulling in 7.997 million viewers compared to Nightly's 7.913 million. David Muir's World News Tonight evening newscast has officially overtaken underfire rival NBC's Nightly News in the ratings war for the first time in more than five and a half years . As well as coming in the wake of Williams' suspension, the switch also follows a change in how the numbers are crunched which now prevents NBC from including repeat numbers of its newscast from overnight replays. In Williams' continued absence, well-liked veteran Lester Holt continues to fill in as substitute anchor at NBC. 'Lester Holt has led NBC Nightly News to great success over the past two months, and we continue to be pleased with his strong performance during this time,' an NBC News spokesperson said in a statement. 'We're proud of the caliber of our work and remain committed to delivering the highest quality broadcast for our audience every night.' NBC's 288 consecutive week winning run had stetched back to September 2009 and the drop from the top spot comes two months after anchor Brian Williams received a six-month suspension for misleading viewers . A source at NBC told Deadline that the news division had expected ratings volatility in the wake of Williams' suspension. The ratings race had become very tight even before Williams' high profile suspension. NBC remains ahead for the season with an average of 9.2 million total viewers compared to ABC's 9.1 million. Muir, who took over from Diane Sawyer last September, has already been the number one choice among viewers aged 25-54 for the past 14 weeks. That is the demographic upon which most news programming is sold to advertisers. World News also won the week among that demographic, 1.95 million viewers compared to NBC's 1.79 million. It's also unclear what impact, if any, ABC's ratings win will have on Holt's future on the show. Many inside NBC News continue to advocate for the well-liked veteran anchor, who has been a stabilizing force at a broadcast and a news division rocked by a series of missteps. In Williams' absence, well-liked veteran Lester Holt continues to fill in as substitute anchor at NBC and a spokesperson said the network was 'pleased with his strong performance'
World News Tonight evening newscast has officially overtaken underfire rival NBC's Nightly News in the ratings war .
NBC's 288 consecutive week winning run had stetched back to September 2009 and the drop  comes two months after Brian Williams' suspension .
An NBC spokesperson said the network was 'pleased' with substitute anchor Lester Holt's 'strong performance'
Switch also follows a change in how the numbers are crunched and NBC is now prevented from including repeat numbers from overnight replays .