Press release - Ratings

May 29, 2026

‘20/20’ IS FRIDAY’S NO. 1 NEWSMAGAZINE, LEADING ‘DATELINE’ IN TOTAL VIEWERS FOR THE 5TH CONSECUTIVE BROADCAST SEASON

‘20/20’ Increased Its Lead in Total Viewers Over ‘Dateline’ Versus Last Broadcast Season by 1,255% and Improved on the Previous Season’s Total Viewers

‘20/20’ Posts Double-Digit Gains Week to Week Across the Board and Turns in Its Strongest Performance in Both Key Adult Demos in Over Two Years

ABC News*

2025-2026 Broadcast Season:

For the 2025-2026 broadcast season, “20/20” ranked as Friday’s No. 1 newsmagazine for the 5th consecutive broadcast season, leading “Dateline” in Total Viewers (+12%/+393,000 – 3.672 million vs. 3.279 million), based on Most Current Big Data+Panel Ratings.

  • “20/20” substantially increased its Total Viewer lead over “Dateline” versus its lead during the 2024-2025 broadcast season (+1,255% – 393,000 vs. 29,000).
  • “20/20” improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 – 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).

Week of May 15, 2026:

 ABC News’ “20/20: Murder Next Door” averaged 3.331 million Total Viewers, 654,000 Adults 25-54 and 481,000 Adults 18-49 on Friday, May 15, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research, leading NBC’s “Dateline-Classic” (1.638 million, 355,000 and 201,000, respectively) to rank as Friday’s No. 1 newsmagazine in all key target demos.

  • “20/20” posted double-digit gains week to week across the board: Total Viewers (+22% – 3.331 million vs. 2.733 million), Adults 25-54 (+41% – 654,000 vs. 465,000) and Adults 18-49 (+52% – 481,000 vs. 317,000). In addition, “20/20” turned in its strongest performance in both key Adult demos in over two years — since 2/2/24.

ABC News’ “20/20” is the No. 1 award-winning primetime program anchored by David Muir and Deborah Roberts. A proven leader as a long-form newsmagazine for over 45 years, “20/20” features unforgettable, character-driven true-crime mysteries, exclusive newsmaker interviews, hard-hitting investigative reports and in-depth coverage of high-profile stories. Janice Johnston is the executive producer. The two-hour “20/20” events air Fridays from 9-11 p.m. ET on ABC and are available to stream on ABC News digital platforms, Disney+ and Hulu.

Source: The Nielsen Company, L+7/Most Current Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings.  2024-25 Broadcast Season (9/23/24 – 5/21/25) and 2024-25 Broadcast Season (9/23/24 – 5/21/25). Averages include pre-season premiere telecasts.  Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season.  Beginning 9/29/25, “20/20” includes airings on ABCNL, including distributors such as YouTube and Roku. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Prior to 8/31/20, ratings do not include OOH viewing.

*COPYRIGHT ©2026 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All photography is copyrighted material and is for editorial use only. Images are not to be archived, altered, duplicated, resold, retransmitted or used for any other purposes without written permission of ABC News. Images are distributed to the press to publicize current programming. Any other usage must be licensed.

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