Press release - Ratings
July 15, 2026
THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL TV FOR 13TH CONSECUTIVE WEEK IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ WITH 8.3 MILLION VIEWERS — AND IS THE MOST-WATCHED NEWSCAST ACROSS THE BOARD, BEATING NBC BY NEARLY 2 MILLION AND CBS BY 4.5 MILLION
‘World News Tonight’ Grows Week to Week and Year to Year in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
‘World News Tonight’ Delivers Largest Viewership in 10 Weeks and Biggest Demo in 13 Weeks
‘World News Tonight’ is #1 for 10th Year in a Row, With Largest Margin Over NBC in 31 years and CBS in 34 years and Largest Season Viewership in 5 Years

- For the 13th week in a row, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.291 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of July 6, 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 (8.291 million), Adults 25-54 (1.058 million) and Adults 18-49 (778,000).
- “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.380 million, 935,000 and 699,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+30%/+1.911 million), Adults 25-54 (+13%/+123,000) and Adults 18-49 (+11%/+79,000).
- “World News Tonight” widened its Adults 25-54 lead over “NBC Nightly News” compared to the previous week by 14% (123,000 vs. 108,000) to its largest in 6 weeks — since w/o 5/25/26.
- “World News Tonight” widened its Total Viewers margin over “NBC Nightly News” year to year by 7% (1.919 million vs. 1.780 million).
- For the second week in a row, “World News Tonight” turned in gains versus the previous week in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+2%/+163,000 – 8.291 million vs. 8.128 million), Adults 25-54 (+10%/+94,000 –1.058 million vs. 964,000) and Adults 18-49 (+5%/+37,000 –777,000 vs. 741,000). “World News Tonight” hit a 10-week high in overall viewers and a 13-week best in the key Adult news demo — since weeks of 4/27/26 and 4/6/26, respectively.
- “World News Tonight” also improved the year-ago week across the board: Total Viewers (+9%/+694,000 – 8.291 million vs. 7.595 million), Adults 25-54 (+6%/+59,000 –1.058 million vs. 999,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13%/+90,000 –778,000 vs. 688,000).
- “World News Tonight” (8.291 million, 1.058 million and 788,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (3.788 million, 497,000 and 396,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+119%/+4.503 million), Adults 25-54 (+113%/+561,000) and Adults 18-49(+96%/+382,000). In addition, “World News Tonight” scored its largest lead in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54 in 10 weeks — since w/o 4/20/26.
- “World News Tonight” widened its lead over “CBS Evening News” versus the year-ago week in Total Viewers (+19% – 4.503 million vs. 3.787 million).
- Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.328 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” (6.510 million) by 1.818 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.060 million) by 4.268 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+9% — 1.818 million vs. 1.675 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 5 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+4%/+345,000 – 8.328 million vs. 7.983 million) — since the 2020-2021 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 (935,000 and 654,000, respectively) by 100,000 Adults 25-54 and by 103,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (524,000 and 383,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+6% – 511,000 vs. 483,000) and Adults 18-49 (+6% – 374,000 vs. 352,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.
NOTE: On Friday (7/10/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC,” “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. The weekly averages for all three shows 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 July 6, 2026)
| TOTAL VIEWERS | ADULTS 25-54 | ADULTS 18-49 | |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 8,291,000 | 1,058,000 | 778,000 |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 6,380,000 | 935,000 | 699,000 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 3,788,000 | 497,000 | 396,000 |
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 7/6/26), Previous Week (w/o 6/29/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 7/7/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 7/12/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 7/13/25). 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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