REACHING 11 MILLION VIEWERS MONDAY NIGHT, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ SEES BIGGEST NIGHT IN NEARLY 6 YEARS AND BEATS NBC AND CBS BY OVER 2.1 MILLION AND 4.1 MILLION VIEWERS FOR THE WEEK — ABC AVERAGING 9 MILLION VIEWERS FOR THE WEEK AND IS #1 NEWSCAST IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49

 

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (9.000 million), Adults 25-54 (1.089 million) and Adults 18-49 (755,000) during the week of Jan. 19, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• On Monday (1/19/26), “World News Tonight” scored the most-watched network news telecast (10.885 million) in nearly 6 years — since 4/29/20.
• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.856 million, 998,000 and 673,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+31%/+2.144 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+91,000) and Adults 18-49 (+12%/+82,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewers advantage over “NBC Nightly News” week to week (+44% – 2.144 million vs. 1.484 million) to its largest in nearly 6 years — since w/o 4/13/20.
• “World News Tonight” nearly doubled its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” year to year (+85% – 2.144 million vs. 1.160 million).
• “World News Tonight” improved on the previous in Total Viewers (+10%/+837,000 – 9.000 million vs. 8.163 million) and Adults 25-54 (+5%/+50,000 – 1.089 million vs. 1.039), hitting season highs in both measures. In fact, “World News Tonight” scored its most-watched week in over 1 year and delivered its strongest news demo performance in 7 months — since weeks of 1/6/25 and 6/23/25, respectively.
• “World News Tonight” grew in Total Viewers on the same week last year by 6% (+6%/+507,000 – 9.000 million vs. 8.493 million), standing as the only evening newscast to grow its overall viewers year to year.
• “World News Tonight” (9.000 million, 1.089 million and 755,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (4.865 million, 675,000 and 502,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+85%/+4.135 million), Adults 25-54 (+61%/+414,000) and Adults 18-49 (+50%/+253,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer lead over “CBS Evening News” both week to week (+4% – 4.135 million vs. 3.974 million) and year to year (+22% – 4.135 million vs. 3.377 million), posting its largest margin over the CBS program in nearly 6 years — since w/o 4/20/20.
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.023 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” (6.328 million) by 1.695 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.108 million) by 3.915 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” (991,000 and 710,000, respectively) is leading NBC (874,000 and 600,000, respectively) by 117,000 Adults 25-54 and by 110,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (520,000 and 390,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+11% – 471,000 vs. 425,000) and Adults 18-49 (+9% – 320,000 vs. 293,000) 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 Jan. 19, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	9,000,000	1,089,000	755,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,856,000	998,000	673,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,865,000	675,000	502,000

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 1/19/26), Previous Week (w/o 1/12/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/20/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 1/26/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 1/28/25). 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.

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