Press release - Ratings
August 12, 2025
ABC’S ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS AMERICA’S #1 PROGRAM ON ALL BROADCAST AND CABLE TV FOR 13 WEEKS STRAIGHT
‘World News Tonight’ Is the Most-Watched Newscast Across Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Outdelivering NBC by 1.5+ Million Viewers and CBS by +3.1 Million Viewers
‘World News Tonight’ Is the #1 Newscast in Total Viewers for 9th Year Straight, Leading NBC by Largest Margin in 30 Years and CBS in 4 Years, and Is the #1 Newscast in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 6th Season in a Row, Leading NBC and CBS by Double Digits

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (6.882 million) on all of broadcast and cable during the week of Aug. 4, 2025, based on Live+Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. “World News Tonight” has been the No. 1 most-watched program on television for 13 weeks in a row (with and without sports).
- “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 newscast across broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (6.882 million), Adults 25-54 (915,000) and Adults 18-49 (586,000).
- “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (5.346 million, 715,000 and 468,000, respectively) by 1.536 million Total Viewers, by 200,000 Adults 25-54 and by 118,000 Adults 18-49.
- “World News Tonight” (6.882 million, 915,000 and 586,000, respectively) defeated “CBS Evening News” (3.744 million, 516,000 and 363,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+84%/+3.138 million), Adults 25-54 (+77%/+399,000) and Adults 18-49 (+61%/+223,000).
- Season to date, “World News Tonight” (7.660 million) is ranking No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 9th consecutive year, based on Most Current Data. “World News Tonight” is leading “NBC Nightly News” (6.069 million) by 1.591 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.220 million) by 3.440 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+26% – 1.591 million vs. 1.265 million) to its largest in 30 years — since the 1994-1995 season. In addition, “World News Tonight” is increasing its Total Viewer season margin versus “CBS Evening News” by 11% (3.440 million vs. 3.092 million) to its largest in 4 years — since the 2020-2021 season.
- “World News Tonight” is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 6th straight season. Season to date, “World News Tonight” (1.074 million and 741,000, respectively) is leading NBC (888,000 and 587,000, respectively), increasing its margins from the same point last season in Adults 25-54 (+60% – 186,000 vs. 116,000) and Adults 18-49 (+90% – 154,000 vs. 81,000).
- In addition, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (595,000 and 407,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+15% – 479,000 vs. 416,000) and Adults 18-49 (+17% – 334,000 vs. 286,000).
NOTE: On Thursday (8/7/25), “NBC Nightly News” was retitled to “NBC Nitely News” due to NFL preseason football. The retitled telecast is excluded from the weekly and season averages. NBC’s averages are based on four days (Monday-Wednesday and Friday).
ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” airs 6:30-7:00 p.m. EDT on ABC. Chris Dinan is the executive producer of the broadcast.
EVENING NEWS (Week of Aug. 4, 2025)
TOTAL VIEWERS | ADULTS 25-54 | ADULTS 18-49 | HOUSEHOLDS | |
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 6,882,000 | 0.7/12; 915,000 | 0.4/10; 586,000 | 4.7/17 |
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 5,346,000 | 0.6/9; 715,000 | 0.3/8; 468,000 | 3.1/13 |
CBS EVENING NEWS | 3,744,000 | 0.4/ 7 ; 516,000 | 0.3/ 6; 363,000 | 2.2/9 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 8/4/25), Previous Week (w/o 7/28/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 8/5/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 8/10/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 8/11/24). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.
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ABC News Media Relations
Van Scott
van.scott@abc.com
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