THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL OF BROADCAST AND CABLE TV WITH 8.6 MILLION VIEWERS IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ — WINNING IN TOTAL VIEWERS, 25-54 AND 18-49

 

Earning a News & Documentary Emmy® Award nomination for Outstanding Live News Program for the fifth year in a row, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.598 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of March 30, 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 (8.598 million), Adults 25-54 (1.071 million) and Adults 18-49 (823,000).
• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.703 million, 1.046 million and 693,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+28%/+1.895 million), Adults 25-54 (+2%/+25,000) and Adults 18-49 (+19%/+130,000).
• For the sixth consecutive week, “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” compared to the year-ago week (+30% – 1.895 million vs. 1.461 million) by double digits.
• For the fifth consecutive week, “World News Tonight” saw gains on the same week last year in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+11%/+824,000 – 8.598 million vs. 7.774 million), Adults 25-54 (+6%/+58,000 – 1.071 million vs. 1.013 million) and Adults 18-49 (+14%/+102,000 – 823,000 vs. 721,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.598 million, 1.071 million and 823,000, respectively) more than doubled the performance of “CBS Evening News” (4.131 million, 571,000 and 410,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+107%/+4.449 million), Adults 25-54 (+88%/+500,000) and Adults 18-49 (+87%/382,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its gap over “CBS Evening News” versus the year-ago week in Total Viewers (+16% – 4.449 million vs. 3.835 million) and Adults 25-54 (+2% – 500,000 vs. 490,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.398 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” (6.593 million) by 1.805 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.146 million) by 4.252 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+8% – 1.805 million vs. 1.672 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 3 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+3%/+208,000 – 8.398 million vs. 8.190 million) — since the 2022-2023 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” (1.048 million and 760,000, respectively) is leading NBC (946,000 and 654,000, respectively) by 102,000 Adults 25-54 and by 106,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (522,000 and 392,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+17% – 526,000 vs. 451,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 368,000 vs. 325,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Wednesday (4/1/26), “World News Tonight” was preempted. On Thursday (4/2/26) and Friday (4/3/26), “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. “World News Tonight”’s weekly average is based on two days (Monday-Tuesday), and “CBS Evening News”’s and “NBC Nightly News”’s weekly averages 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 March 30, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,598,000	1,071,000	823,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,703,000	1,046,000	693,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,149,000	571,000	441,000

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 3/30/26), Previous Week (w/o 3/23/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/31/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 4/5/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 4/6/25). 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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