FOR 17 WEEKS STRAIGHT, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL TV

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (7.118 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of Sept. 1, 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 17 consecutive weeks (with and without sports).

• “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 newscast across broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.188 million), Adults 25-54 (893,000) and Adults 18-49 (592,000).
• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (5.631 million, 820,000 and 520,000, respectively) by 1.557 million Total Viewers, by 73,000 Adults 25-54 and by 72,000 Adults 18-49.

• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over “NBC Nightly News” versus the year-ago week in Total Viewers (+28% – 1.557 million vs. 1.213 million) and Adults 25-54 (+4% – 73,000 vs. 70,000).
• For the 2nd week in a row, “World News Tonight” improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+2%/+162,000 – 7.188 million vs. 7.026 million) and Adults 25-54 (+2%/+21,000 – 893,000 vs. 872,000). “World News Tonight” attracted its largest overall audience in 5 weeks — since w/o 7/28/25.
• “World News Tonight” was up on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+3%/+212,000 – 7.188 million vs. 6.976 million), standing as the only evening newscast to grow year to year.

• “World News Tonight” (7.188 million, 893,000 and 592,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (3.708 million, 515,000 and 403,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+94%/+3.480 million), Adults 25-54 (+73%/+378,000) and Adults 18-49 (+47%/+189,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (7.612 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” (6.037 million) by 1.575 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.188 million) by 3.424 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+24% – 1.575 million vs. 1.271 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% (3.424 million vs. 3.076 million) to its largest in 5 years — since the 2019-2020 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” (1.059 million and 730,000, respectively) is leading NBC (880,000 and 579,000, respectively), increasing its margins from the same point last season in Adults 25-54 (+54% – 179,000 vs. 116,000) and Adults 18-49 (+84% – 151,000 vs. 82,000).
• In addition, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (590,000 and 406,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+14% – 469,000 vs. 411,000) and Adults 18-49 (+14% – 324,000 vs. 283,000).

NOTE: On Monday (9/1/25), “World News Tonight,” “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News” were all coded as specials due to Labor Day. On Thursday (9/4/25), “NBC Nightly News” was retitled to “NBC Nitely News,” and on Friday (9/5/25), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC” due to NFL. The specialed and retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. ABC’s weekly averages are based on three days (Tuesday-Thursday), CBS’ weekly averages are based on four days (Tuesday-Friday), and NBC’s weekly averages are based on three days (Tuesday, 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 Sept. 1, 2025)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49	HOUSEHOLDS
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	7,188,000	0.7/11; 893,000	0.4/10; 592,000	4.2/17
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	5,631,000	0.7/ 10; 820,000	0.4/  9; 520,000	3.2/13
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,708,000	0.4/  6; 515,000	0.3/  6; 403,000	2.1/ 9

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 9/1/25), Previous Week (w/o 8/25/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/2/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 9/7/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 9/8/24). 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.

*COPYRIGHT ©2025 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.

ABC News Media Relations
Van Scott
van.scott@abc.com

For more information, follow ABC News PR on Facebook, X and Instagram.

 

Media Contacts

You must be logged in to view this content. Please log in or create an account.