Press release - Ratings
October 22, 2025
OUTDELIVERING NBC BY 2+ MILLION VIEWERS, ABC’S ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ SCORES LARGEST LEAD IN 14 MONTHS
‘World News Tonight’ Posts Most-Watched Week in 11 Weeks and Is the Only Evening Newscast To Grow Week to Week Across the Board
‘World News Tonight’ Is America’s #1 Newscast Across All Broadcast and Cable in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
‘World News Tonight’ Is #1 in Total Viewers for 10th Year in a Row and in Both Key Adults Demos for the 7th Year Straight Season to Date

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 evening newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.658 million), Adults 25-54 (927,000) and Adults 18-49 (631,000) during the week of Oct. 13, 2025, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
- “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (5.646 million, 746,000 and 506,000, respectively) by 2.012 million Total Viewers, by 181,000 Adults 25-54 and by 125,000 Adults 18-49.
- “World News Tonight” widened its margins over “NBC Nightly News” from the prior week in Total Viewers (+29% – 2.012 million vs. 1.562 million), Adults 25-54 (+1193% – 181,000 vs. 14,000) and Adults 18-49 (+155% – 125,000 vs. 49,000). In fact, “World News Tonight” scored its largest overall viewer lead in 14 months — since w/o 8/26/24.
- “World News Tonight” improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+6%/+466,000 – 7.658 million vs. 7.192 million), Adults 25-54 (+16%/+126,000 – 927,000 vs. 801,000) and Adults 18-49 (+8%/+47,000 – 631,000 vs. 584,000), hitting a season high across the board. In fact, “World News Tonight” turned in its most-watched week in 11 weeks — since w/o 7/28/25. In addition, “World News Tonight” stood as the only evening newscast to grow week to week across the board.
- “World News Tonight” (7.658 million, 927,000 and 631,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (3.661 million, 432,000 and 313,000, respectively), more than doubling its performance across the board: Total Viewers (+109%/+3.997 million), Adults 25-54 (+115%/+495,000) and Adults 18-49 (+102%/+318,000).
- Season to date, “World News Tonight” (7.386 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” (5.722 million) by 1.664 million and “CBS Evening News” (3.659 million) by 3.727 million. In addition, “World News Tonight” is 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.
- “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” (874,000 and 603,000, respectively) is leading NBC (783,000 and 533,000, respectively) by 91,000 Adults 25-54 and by 70,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (425,000 and 308,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+15% – 449,000 vs. 390,000) and Adults 18-49 (+7% – 295,000 vs. 275,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.
NOTE: On Monday (10/13/25), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC” due to the NFL. On Friday (10/17/25), “World News Tonight” was also retitled to “WNT-ABC.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. ABC’s weekly averages are based on three days (Tuesday-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 Oct. 13, 2025)
| TOTAL VIEWERS | ADULTS 25-54 | ADULTS 18-49 | HOUSEHOLDS | |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 7,658,000 | 0.7/11; 927,000 | 0.5/9; 631,000 | 4.4/17 |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 5,646,000 | 0.6/8; 746,000 | 0.4/7; 506,000 | 3.4/13 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 3,661,000 | 0.3/5; 432,000 | 0.2/4; 313,000 | 2.2/8 |
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 10/13/25), Previous Week (w/o 10/6/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 10/14/24). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22 – 10/19/25) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23 – 10/20/24). Beginning 12/26/22, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings. Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 9/29/25, “World News Tonight” averages include airings on ABCNL. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing.
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