Press release - Ratings

June 9, 2026

FOR THE 8TH CONSECUTIVE WEEK, THE #1 PROGRAM ON TELEVISION IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ — THE MOST-WATCHED NEWSCAST ACROSS TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49, OUTDELIVERING NBC BY 1.4 MILLION AND CBS BY 3.8 MILLION

For 14 Weeks in a Row, ‘World News Tonight’ Grows Year to Year in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 Across the Board and Improves Week to Week in Both Key Adult Demos

‘World News Tonight’ Is Delivering Largest Season Viewership in 4 Years and Is #1 for 10th Year in a Row, With Biggest Margin Over NBC in 31 Years and CBS in at Least 34 Years

ABC News*

For the eighth straight week, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (7.660 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of June 1, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

  • “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 newscast across broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.660 million), Adults 25-54 (974,000) and Adults 18-49 (766,000).
  • “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.304 million, 892,000 and 598,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+22%/+1.356 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+82,000) and Adults 18-49 (+28%/+68,000).
  • “World News Tonight” was up over the previous week in Adults 25-54 (+1%/+13,000 – 974,000 vs. 961,000) and Adults 18-49 (+6%/+44,000 – 766,000 vs. 722,000), hitting a 4-week high in Adults 25-54 and a 6-week best in Adults 18-49 — since weeks of 5/4/26 and 4/20/26, respectively.
  • “World News Tonight” improved on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+5%/+357,000 – 7.660 million vs. 7.303 million), Adults 25-54 (+6%/+55,000 – 974,000 vs. 919,000) and Adults 18-49 (+24%/+148,000 – 766,000 vs. 618,000). In addition, “World News Tonight” posted yearto-year increases in overall viewers and in the key Adult news demo for the last 14 weeks.
  • “World News Tonight” (7.660 million, 974,000 and 766,000, respectively) towered over “CBS Evening News” (3.814 million, 560,000 and 341,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+101%/+3.846 million), Adults 25-54 (+74%/+414,000) and Adults 18-49 (+125%/+425,000).
  • Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.370 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” (6.522 million) by 1.848 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.079 million) by 4.291 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+12% — 1.848 million vs. 1.654 million), 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 4 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+4%/+352,000 – 8.370 million vs. 8.018 million) — since the 2021-2022 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” (1.046 million and 763,000, respectively) is leading NBC (935,000 and 651,000, respectively) by 111,000 Adults 25-54 and by 112,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (521,000 and 382,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+13% – 525,000 vs. 465,000) and Adults 18-49 (+12% – 381,000 vs. 340,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: From Tuesday through Friday (6/2-5/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC.” On Friday, “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws,” and “NBC Nightly News” was retitled to “NBC Nitely News.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. The weekly average for “World News Tonight” is based on one day (Monday), while “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News” are based on four days (Monday-Thursday).

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 June 1, 2026)

TOTAL VIEWERS ADULTS 25-54 ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT 7,660,000 974,000 766,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS 6,304,000 892,000 598,000
CBS EVENING NEWS 3,814,000 560,000 341,000

Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 National Live + Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings. Current Week (w/o 6/1/26), Previous Week (w/o 5/25/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/2/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 6/7/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 6/8/25). Beginning 12/26/22, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings.  Season averages based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings start with the 2023-2024 season. Beginning 9/29/25, “World News Tonight” averages include airings on ABCNL. 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.

*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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