WITH 10.1 MILLION VIEWERS ON TUESDAY, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL OF TELEVISION, WITH LARGEST VIEWERSHIP IN 7 MONTHS, AND IS AMERICA’S #1 NEWSCAST ACROSS THE BOARD — OUTDELIVERING NBC BY 2.1 MILLION VIEWERS AND CBS BY 4.2 MILLION

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.837 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of Oct. 19, 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 (8.837 million), Adults 25-54 (1.198 million) and Adults 18-49 (863,000).
• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.720 million, 1.107 million and 809,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+32%/+2.117 million), Adults 25-54 (+8%/+91,000) and Adults 18-49 (+7%/+54,000). 
• “World News Tonight” widened its Total Viewers margins over “NBC Nightly News” both week to week (+24% – 2.117 million vs. 1.714 million) and year to year (+5% – 2.117 million vs. 2.021 million), delivering its largest overall viewer lead in 6 months — since w/o 4/20/26.
• “World News Tonight” improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+6%/+481,000 – 8.837 million vs. 8.356 million), Adults 25-54 (+6%/+65,000 – 1.198 million vs. 1.133 million) and Adults 18-49 (+2%/+20,000 – 863,000 vs. 843,000), hitting season highs in overall viewers and in the key Adult news demo. In addition, “World News Tonight” turned in its largest Total Viewer performance in over 7 months — since w/o 3/2/26.
• “World News Tonight” posted double-digit year-to-year gains in Total Viewers (+12%/+973,000 – 8.837 million vs. 7.864 million), Adults 25-54 (+30%/+273,000 – 1.198 million vs. 925,000) and Adults 18-49 (+35%/+225,000 – 863,000 vs. 638,000) and turned in year-to-year gains across the board in all five weeks of the season, to date. 
• “World News Tonight” (8.837 million, 1.198 million and 863,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (4.626 million, 688,000 and 484,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+91%/+4.211 million), Adults 25-54 (+74%/+510,000) and Adults 18-49 (+78%/+379,000).
• On Tuesday (10/20/26), “World News Tonight” scored the most-watched news telecast (10.102 million) in 9 months — since 1/19/26.
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” is delivering across the board by double-digit increases compared to the same point last season: Total Viewers (+14%/+1.014 million – 8.514 million vs. 7.500 million), Adults 25-54 (+32%/+285,000 – 1.173 million vs. 888,000) and Adults 18-49 (+40%/+246,000 – 858,000 vs. 612,000), based on Most Current Big Data+Panel Ratings. In fact, “World News Tonight” is drawing its largest season viewership in 6 years — since the 2020-2021 season.
• “World News Tonight” (8.514 million) is ranking No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 11th consecutive year, leading “NBC Nightly News” (6.638 million) by 1.876 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.276 million) by 4.238 million. “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season by 7% (1.876 million vs. 1.715 million) to its largest in 32 years — since the 1994-1995 season. In addition, “World News Tonight” is delivering its largest Total Viewer season lead over the CBS program in at least 35 years — since at least the 1991-1992 season; the Nielsen electronic database started in September 1991.
• “World News Tonight” is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 8th season in a row. In fact, “World News Tonight”(1.173 million and 858,000, respectively) is increasing its season leads over “NBC Nightly News” (1.026 million and 745,000, respectively) compared to the same point last season by double digits in both Adults 25-54 (+47% – 147,000 vs. 100,000) and Adults 18-49 (+36% – 113,000 vs. 83,000).
• Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening its margins by double digits with “CBS Evening News” (612,000 and 453,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+23% – 561,000 vs. 455,000) and Adults 18-49 (+35% – 405,000 vs. 299,000) versus last season.

NOTE: On Tuesday (10/20/26), “NBC Nightly News” was preempted. On Friday (10/23/26), “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 “World News Tonight” and “CBS Evening News” are based on four days (Monday-Thursday), while the weekly averages for “NBC Nightly News” are based on three days (Monday, Wednesday and 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 Oct. 19, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,837,000	1,198,000	863,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,720,000	1,107,000	809,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,626,000	688,000	484,000

Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 10/19/2026. Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2026-2027 Season (9/21 – 10/25/26) and 2025-2026 Season (9/22 – 10/26/26). Average audience based on regularly titled telecasts only.

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