WITH 8.6 MILLION VIEWERS, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS #1 NEWSCAST IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49, BEATING NBC BY LARGEST MARGIN IN 4 WEEKS WITH 1.9 MILLION VIEWERS AND CBS BY 4.5 MILLION

 

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.642 million), Adults 25-54 (1.028 million) and Adults 18-49 (759,000) during the week of Feb. 23, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.788 million, 989,000 and 689,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+27%/+1.854 million), Adults 25-54 (+4%/+39,000) and Adults 18-49 (+10%/+70,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer lead over “NBC Nightly News” by its largest margin in 4 weeks and by double digits both week to week (+46% – 1.854 million vs. 1.272 million) and year to year (+22% – 1.854 million vs. 1.522 million).
• For the 6th week running, “World News Tonight” grew its Total Viewer audience year to year (+6%/+479,000 – 8.642 million vs. 8.163 million).
• For the 3rd consecutive week, “World News Tonight” (8.642 million, 1.028 million and 759,000, respectively) doubled the “CBS Evening News” audience (4.170 million, 504,000 and 380,000, respectively) and outdelivered the program by triple digits in Total Viewers (+107%/+4.472 million), Adults 25-54 (+104%/+524,000) and Adults 18-49 (+100%/+379,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its advantage over the “CBS Evening News” versus the same week last year in Total Viewers (+18% – 4.472 million vs. 3.778 million) and Adults 25-54 (+11% – 524,000 vs. 470,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.293 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” (6.582 million) by 1.711 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.159 million) by 4.134 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is 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 2 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+34,000 – 8.293 million vs. 8.259 million).
• “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” (1.034 million and 749,000, respectively) is leading NBC (934,000 and 649,000, respectively) by 100,000 Adults 25-54 and by 100,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (524,000 and 393,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+14% – 510,000 vs. 446,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 356,000 vs. 316,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Tuesday (2/24/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC” 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 “NBC Nightly News” are based on four days (Monday and Wednesday-Friday).

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 Feb. 23, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,642,000	1,028,000	759,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,788,000	989,000	689,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,170,000	504,000	380,000

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 2/23/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/16/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/24/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 3/1/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/2/25). 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 additionalairings in select markets.  Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing.

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