WITH 8.5 MILLION VIEWERS, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ BEATS NBC BY NEARLY 2 MILLION VIEWERS AND CBS BY 4.6 MILLION

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.478 million), Adults 25-54 (1.033 million) and Adults 18-49 (743,000) during the week of March 9, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.514 million, 946,000 and 638,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+30%/+1.964 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+87,000) and Adults 18-49 (+16%/+105,000).
• “World News Tonight” widened its margins over “NBC Nightly News” compared to the previous week in Adults 25-54 (+74% – 87,000 vs. 50,000) and Adults 18-49 (+36% – 105,000 vs. 77,000) to post its largest lead in 6 weeks — since w/o 1/26/26.
• For the third consecutive week, “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” on the year-ago week (+34% – 1.964 million vs. 1.462 million) by double digits.
• For the second week in a row, “World News Tonight” turned in gains on the year-ago week across the board: Total Viewers (+8%/+656,000 – 8.478 million vs. 7.822 million), Adults 25-54 (+3%/+31,000 – 1.033 million vs. 1.002 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6%/+39,000 – 743,000 vs. 704,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.478 million, 1.033 million and 743,000, respectively) more than doubled the performance of “CBS Evening News” (3.845 million, 468,000 and 327,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+120%/+4.633 million), Adults 25-54 (+121%/+565,000) and Adults 18-49 (+127%/+416,000), beating the CBS program by triple digits for the 5th consecutive week.
• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over “CBS Evening News” year to year by double digits in Total Viewers (+22% – 4.633 million vs. 3.807 million), Adults 25-54 (+21% – 565,000 vs. 466,000) and Adults 18-49 (+31% – 416,000 vs. 317,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.346 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” (6.597 million) by 1.749 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.149 million) by 4.197 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+4% – 1.749 million vs. 1.689 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 (+1%/+108,000 – 8.346 million vs. 8.238 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” (1.040 million and 753,000, respectively) is leading NBC (941,000 and 653,000, respectively) by 99,000 Adults 25-54 and by 100,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (522,000 and 392,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+16% – 518,000 vs. 447,000) and Adults 18-49 (+14% – 361,000 vs. 318,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Friday (3/13/26), “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws.” The retitled telecast is excluded from the weekly and season averages. “CBS Evening News”’s 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 March 9, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,478,000	1,033,000	743,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,514,000	946,000	638,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,845,000	468,000	327,000

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 3/9/26), Previous Week (w/o 3/2/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/10/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 3/15/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/16/25). 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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