THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL OF TELEVISION FOR 11TH CONSECUTIVE WEEK IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ — WINNING ALL KEY DEMOS IN SECOND QUARTER WITH 8.2 MILLION VIEWERS, BEATING NBC BY NEARLY 2 MILLION AND CBS BY 4.3 MILLION

 

2nd Quarter of 2026
ABC News’ “World News Tonight with David Muir” won the 2nd quarter of 2026, standing as the No. 1 newscast across broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.200 million), Adults 25-54 (1.010 million) and Adults 18-49 (753,000), based on Most Current Data from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” took the top spot in all key target demos for the 7th straight year during the 2nd quarter. Overall, “World News Tonight” has won the last 37 quarters in Total Viewers and the last 26 quarters in Adults 25-54 — since 2Q17 and 1Q20, respectively.
• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.347 million, 923,000 and 655,000, respectively) during 2Q26 in Total Viewers (+29%/+1.853 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+87,000) and Adults 18-49 (+15%/+98,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over the NBC program versus the previous quarter (1Q26) in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+6% -1.853 million vs. 1.745 million), Adults 25-54 (+74% – 87,000 vs. 50,000) and Adults 18-49 (+46% – 98,000 vs. 67,000), delivering its largest Total Viewer quarter lead over “NBC Nightly News” in 31 years — since 2Q95.
• “World News Tonight” turned in increases versus the year-ago quarter (2Q25) in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+8%/+573,000 -8.200 million vs. 7.627 million), Adults 25-54 (+2%/+16,000 – 1.010 million vs. 994,000) and Adults 18-49 (+6%/+43,000 – 753,000 vs. 710,000), drawing its largest overall 2nd-Quarter audience in 6 years — since 2Q20.
• “World News Tonight” (8.200 million, 1.010 million and 753,000, respectively) outperformed “CBS Evening News” (3.900 million, 535,000 and 364,000) in Total Viewers (+4.300 million), Adults 25-54 (+475,000) and Adults 18-49 (+389,000), posting its largest Total Viewer lead over the CBS program during a 2nd quarter in at least 34 years — since September 1991; the Nielsen electronic database started in September 1991.

Week of June 22, 2026
For the 11th week in a row, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (7.858 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of June 22, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.858 million), Adults 25-54 (955,000) and Adults 18-49 (694,000).
• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.341 million, 890,000 and 655,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+24%/+1.517 million), Adults 25-54 (+7%/+65,000) and Adults 18-49 (+6%/+39,000).
• “World News Tonight” was up over the previous week in Adults 25-54 (+3%/+25,000 – 955,000 vs. 930,000).
• “World News Tonight” improved year to year in Total Viewers (+1%/+109,000 – 7.858 million vs. 7.749 million) for the last 23 weeks. 
• “World News Tonight” (7.858 million, 955,000 and 694,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (4.015 million, 576,000 and 380,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+96%/+3.843 million), Adults 25-54 (+66%/+379,000) and Adults 18-49 (+83%/+314,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.331 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” (6.519 million) by 1.812 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.071 million) by 4.260 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+9% — 1.812 million vs. 1.667 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%/+331,000 – 8.331 million vs. 8.000 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” (1.035 million and 757,000, respectively) is leading NBC (937,000 and 653,000, respectively) by 98,000 Adults 25-54 and by 104,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (525,000 and 382,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+7% – 510,000 vs. 476,000) and Adults 18-49 (+8% – 375,000 vs. 348,000) 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 (2nd Quarter 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,200,000	1.010,000	753,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,347,000	923,000	655,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,900,000	535,000	364,000

EVENING NEWS (Week of June 22, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	7,528,000	955,000	694,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,341,000	890,000	655,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,015,000	576,000	380,000

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 6/22/26), Previous Week (w/o 6/15/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 6/23/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 6/28/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 6/29/25). Beginning 12/26/22, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings.  Live+7/Most Current – 2Q26: 3/30 – 6/28/26, 2Q25: 3/31 – 6/29/25and 1Q25: 12/29/25 – 3/29/26. 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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