Preliminary numbers from Nielsen Media Research indicate that ABC's two-hour and commercial-free tribute to Peter Jennings, Peter Jennings: Reporter, was the most-watched show on American television on Thursday night.

The programme averaged 9.4m viewers between 8pm and 10pm, posting a 6.0 rating/11 share in the first hour and building to a 7.0/12 in the second. (One ratings point represents 1,096,000 households, or one percent of the USA television "universe" of 109.6m TV-equipped households. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions in a universe tuned to a particular show or channel.)

The exceptional programme featured comments from colleagues and friends and showcased the many highlights of Jennings' career. It closed with the ABC News theme being played by a single musician on a darkened World News Tonight set.