FOR 17th CONSECUTIVE WEEK, ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS #1 PROGRAM ON ALL TV WITH 8.3 MILLION VIEWERS — GROWING WEEK TO WEEK AND DELIVERING LARGEST SEASON MARGIN OVER NBC IN 31 YEARS

 

For the 17th consecutive week, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.339 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of Aug 3, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.339 million) and Adults 18-49 (819,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer lead over “NBC Nightly News,” both week to week (+9% – 1.682 million vs. 1.548 million), and year to year (+11% – 1.682 million vs. 1.519 million).
• For the second week in a row, “World News Tonight” was up over the previous week in Total Viewers (+2%/+171,000 – 8.339 million vs. 8.168 million).
• For the fifth week in a row, “World News Tonight” improved year to year by double digits in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+17%/+1.224 million – 8.339 million vs. 7.115 million), Adults 25-54 (+17%/+153,000 –1.039 million vs. 886,000) and Adults 18-49 (+41%/+237,000 –819,000 vs. 582,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.339 million, 1.039 million and 819,000, respectively) outperformed “CBS Evening News” (3.913 million, 514,000 and 395,000, respectively) by triple digits in Total Viewers (+113%/+4.426 million), Adults 25-54(+102%/+525,000) and Adults 18-49 (+107%/+424,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.328 million) is ranking No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 10th straight year, based on Most Current Big Data+Panel Ratings. “World News Tonight” is leading “NBC Nightly News” (6.521 million) by 1.807 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.050 million) by 4.278 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+7% — 1.807 million vs. 1.683 million) to its largest in 31 years — since the 1994-1995 season. “World News Tonight” is also delivering its largest Total Viewer season lead over the CBS program in at least 34 years — since at least the 1991-1992 season; the Nielsen electronic database started in September 1991. In addition, “World News Tonight” is delivering its largest season viewership in 5 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+5%/+391,000 – 8.328 million vs. 7.937 million) — since the 2020-2021 season.
• “World News Tonight” is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 7th season in a row. “World News Tonight” (1.038 million and 763,000, respectively) is leading NBC (940,000 and 660,000, respectively) by 98,000 Adults 25-54 and by 103,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (524,000 and 382,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+6% – 514,000 vs. 485,000) and Adults 18-49 (+8% – 381,000 vs. 353,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” airs 6:30-7:00 p.m. ET on ABC. Chris Dinan is the executive producer of the broadcast.

EVENING NEWS (Week of Aug 3, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,339,000	1,039,000	819,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,657,000	1,065,000	768,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,913,000	514,000	395,000

Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 8/3/2026. Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 8/9/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 8/10/25). Average audience based on regularly titled telecasts only.

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