THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL TELEVISION WITH 8.5 MILLION VIEWERS IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR,’ BEATING NBC BY 2.4 MILLION VIEWERS AND CBS BY 4.8 MILLION — THE LARGEST LEAD OVER NBC IN 6 YEARS

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.537 million) on all of broadcast and cable for the second straight week during the week of April 20, 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 (8.537 million), Adults 25-54 (1.056 million) and Adults 18-49 (778,000).
• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.168 million, 831,000 and 612,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+38%/+2.369 million), Adults 25-54 (+27%/+225,000) and Adults 18-49 (+27%/+166,000).
• “World News Tonight” grew its margins over “NBC Nightly News” week to week in Total Viewers (+37% – 2.369 million vs. 1.734 million), Adults 25-54 (+236% – 225,000 vs. 67,000) and Adults 18-49 (+93% – 166,000 vs. 86,000), scoring its largest overall viewer lead in over 6 years — since w/o 4/13/20.
• For the ninth consecutive week, “World News Tonight” built on its Total Viewer lead over “NBC Nightly News” on the same week last year (+25% – 1.369 million vs. 1.895 million) by double digits.
• “World News Tonight” improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+4%/+362,000 – 8.537 million vs. 8.175 million), Adults 25-54 (+5%/+46,000 – 1.056 million vs. 1.010 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5%/+34,000 – 778,000 vs. 744,000), standing as the only evening newscast to grow week to week in all key target demos.
• For the eighth straight week, “World News Tonight” increased on the year-ago week across the board: Total Viewers (+10%/+743,000 – 8.537 million vs. 7.794 million), Adults 25-54 (+6%/+56,000 – 1.056 million vs. 1.000 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5%/+36,000 – 778,000 vs. 742,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.537 million, 1.056 million and 778,000, respectively) more than doubled the performance of “CBS Evening News” (3.771 million, 467,000 and 309,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+126%/+4.766 million), Adults 25-54 (+126%/+589,000) and Adults 18-49 (+152%/+469,000).
• “World News Tonight” widened its lead over “CBS Evening News” versus the year-ago week by double digits in Total Viewers (+22% – 4.766 million vs. 3.919 million), Adults 25-54 (+15% – 589,000 vs. 512,000) and Adults 18-49 (+18% – 469,000 vs. 401,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.406 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” (6.575 million) by 1.831 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.115 million) by 4.291 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+9% – 1.831 million vs. 1.676 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%/+258,000 – 8.406 million vs. 8.148 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” (1.052 million and 765,000, respectively) is leading NBC (943,000 and 653,000, respectively) by 109,000 Adults 25-54 and by 112,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (518,000 and 387,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+16% – 534,000 vs. 460,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 378,000 vs. 334,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Monday (4/20/26) and Tuesday (4/21/26), “NBC Nightly News” was retitled to “NBC Nitely News.” On Thursday (4/23/26) and Friday (4/24/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC.” On Friday, “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening News.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. “World News Tonight”’s (Monday-Wednesday) and “NBC Nightly News”’s (Wednesday-Friday) weekly averages are based on three days, while “CBS Evening News” 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 April 20, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,537,000	1,056,000	778,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,168,000	831,000	612,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,771,000	467,000	309,000

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 4/20/26), Previous Week (w/o 4/13/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/21/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 4/26/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 4/27/25). 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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