Press release - Ratings
May 13, 2026
THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL OF TELEVISION IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR,’ WITH 8.2 MILLION VIEWERS — LEADING NBC BY 2.1 MILLION VIEWERS, CBS BY 4.5 MILLION AND ABC WINNING ALL KEY DEMOS
‘World News Tonight’ Grows Year to Year for the 10th Week in a Row in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54
‘World News Tonight’ Is Delivering Largest Season Viewership in 4 Years and Is #1 for 10th Year in a Row, With Biggest Margin Over NBC in 31 Years and CBS in at Least 34 Years

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.183 million) on all of broadcast and cable for the third time in the last four weeks during the week of May 4, 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 (8.183 million), Adults 25-54 (976,000) and Adults 18-49 (694,000).
- “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.125 million, 903,000 and 672,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+34%/+2.058 million), Adults 25-54 (+8%/+73,000) and Adults 18-49 (+3%/+22,000).
- For the 11th consecutive week, “World News Tonight” grew its Total Viewer lead over “NBC Nightly News” on the year-ago week (+20% – 2.058 million vs. 1.714 million) by double digits.
- For the 10th week in a row, “World News Tonight” improved year to year in Total Viewers (+8%/+616,000 – 8.183 million vs. 7.567 million) and Adults 25-54 (+3%/+30,000 –976,000 vs. 946,000).
- “World News Tonight” (8.183 million, 976,000 and 694,000, respectively) more than double the performance of “CBS Evening News” (3.702 million, 473,000 and 299,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+121%/+4.481 million), Adults 25-54 (+106%/+503,000) and Adults 18-49 (+132%/+395,000).
- “World News Tonight” widened its lead over “CBS Evening News” compared to the same week last year in Total Viewers (+15% – 4.481 million vs. 3.909 million), Adults 25-54 (+5% – 503,000 vs. 477,000) and Adults 18-49 (+2% – 395,000 vs. 389,000).
- Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.407 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” (6.552 million) by 1.855 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.096 million) by 4.311 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+11% – 1.855 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 4 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+4%/+302,000 – 8.407 million vs. 8.105 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” (1.052 million and 767,000, respectively) is leading NBC (941,000 and 655,000, respectively) by 111,000 Adults 25-54 and by 112,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (518,000 and 384,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+15% – 534,000 vs. 465,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 383,000 vs. 339,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.
NOTE: On Tuesday (5/5/26), “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws.” On Wednesday (5/6/26), “NBC Nightly News” was retitled to “NBC Nitely News.” On Friday (5/8/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. The weekly averages for “World News Tonight” (Monday-Thursday), “CBS Evening News” (Monday, Wednesday-Friday) and “NBC Nightly News” (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) are based on four days.
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 May 4, 2026)
| TOTAL VIEWERS | ADULTS 25-54 | ADULTS 18-49 | |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 8,183,000 | 976,000 | 694,000 |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 6,125,000 | 903,000 | 672,000 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 3,702,000 | 473,000 | 299,000 |
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 5/4/26), Previous Week (w/o 4/27/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/5/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 5/10/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 5/11/25). 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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