REACHING 8.6 MILLION VIEWERS, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ BEATS NBC BY 1.5 MILLION AND CBS BY 4.0 MILLION FOR WEEK — ABC WINS 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 (8.163 million), Adults 25-54 (1.039 million) and Adults 18-49 (762,000) during the week of Jan. 12, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.679 million, 964,000 and 666,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+22%/+1.484 million), Adults 25-54 (+8%/+75,000) and Adults 18-49 (+14%/+96,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over “NBC Nightly News” versus the previous week in Total Viewers (+10% – 1.484 million vs. 1.353 million) and Adults 18-49 (+134% – 96,000 vs. 41,000), turning in its largest margins in both measures in 4 weeks — since w/o 12/15/25.
• “World News Tonight” widened its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” year to year by 11% (1.484 million vs. 1.337 million).
• For the second week in a row, “World News Tonight” posted week-to-week gains in Total Viewers (+1%/+85,000 – 8.163 million vs. 8.078 million), Adults 25-54 (+5%/+50,000 – 1.039 million vs. 989,000) and Adults 18-49 (+2%/+14,000 – 762,000 vs. 748,000). In addition, “World News Tonight” hit 6-week highs across the board — since w/o 12/1/25.
• “World News Tonight” (8.163 million, 1.039 million and 762,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (4.189 million, 584,000 and 465,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+95%/+3.974 million), Adults 25-54 (+78%/+455,000) and Adults 18-49 (+64%/+297,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer lead over “CBS Evening News” both week to week (+2% – 3.974 million vs. 3.912 million) and year to year (+21% – 3.974 million vs. 3.283 million).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (7.919 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” (6.296 million) by 1.623 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.057 million) by 3.862 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” (980,000 and 705,000, respectively) is leading NBC (867,000 and 595,000, respectively) by 113,000 Adults 25-54 and by 110,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (510,000 and 382,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+11% – 470,000 vs. 425,000) and Adults 18-49 (+11% – 323,000 vs. 291,000) 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. 12, 2026)

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 1/12/26), Previous Week (w/o 1/5/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/13/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 1/19/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 1/21/25). 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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