WITH 8.9 MILLION VIEWERS, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS #1 NEWSCAST ACROSS BROADCAST AND CABLE, WINNING 10TH CONSECUTIVE OLYMPIC WEEK OVER NBC AND DELIVERING MOST-WATCHED OLYMPIC WEEK IN 8 YEARS

 

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.867 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) for the second week in a row during the week of Feb. 16, 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 (8.867 million), beating “NBC Nightly News” (7.595 million) during the second week of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, increasing its lead over the previous week by 48% (1.272 million vs. 860,000).
• “World News Tonight” marked its 10th straight Olympic week victory, including both weeks of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
• On Monday (2/16/26), “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 telecast of the day, leading NBC’s primetime coverage on the night of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Total Viewers (+214,000 – 9.244 million vs. 9.030 million).
• “World News Tonight” increased in Total Viewers versus the second week of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics (+2%/+139,000 – 8.867 million vs. 8.728 million) and the second week of the 2024 Paris Olympics (+12%/+954,000 – 8.867 million vs. 7.913 million). In fact, “World News Tonight” scored its most-watched week during an Olympics in 8 years — since w/o 2/19/18, the second week of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
• Compared to week two of the 2024 Paris Olympics, “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer lead over “NBC Nightly News” in Total Viewers (+700% – 1.272 million vs. 159,000), while slashing its margins by double digits in both Adults 25-54(-89% – 42,000 vs. 377,000) and Adults 18-49 (-92% – 29,000 vs. 352,000).
• “World News Tonight” turned in gains on the previous week in Total Viewers (+2%/+210,000 – 8.867 million vs. 8.657 million), Adults 25-54 (+3%/+33,000 – 1.138 million vs. 1.105 million) and Adults 18-49 (+2%/+20,000 – 843,000 vs. 823,000), standing as the only evening newscast to grow week to week across the board.
• For the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks, “World News Tonight” improved year to year in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+3%/+289,000 – 8.867 million vs. 8.578 million), Adults 25-54 (+3%/+31,000 – 1.138 million vs. 1.107 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8%/+61,000 – 843,000 vs. 782,000).
• For the 2nd week in a row, “World News Tonight” (8.867 million, 1.138 million and 843,000, respectively) more than doubled the performance of “CBS Evening News” (4.168 million, 475,000 and 350,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+113%/+4.699 million), Adults 25-54 (+141%/+663,000) and Adults 18-49 (+141%/+493,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its gap week to week over “CBS Evening News” in Total Viewers (+5% – 4.699 million vs. 4.494 million), Adults 25-54 (+2% – 663,000 vs. 647,000) and Adults 18-49 (+7% – 493,000 vs. 459,000), delivering its largest margins in both key Adult demos over 3 years — since weeks of 12/19/22 and 11/14/22, respectively.
• “World News Tonight” grew its margins by double digits year to year over the “CBS Evening News” in Total Viewers (+22% – 4.699 million vs. 3.862 million), Adults 25-54 (+40% – 663,000 vs. 475,000) and Adults 18-49 (+45% – 493,000 vs. 341,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.271 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” (6.572 million) by 1.699 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.158 million) by 4.113 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 (+12,000 – 8.271 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 748,000, respectively) is leading NBC (932,000 and 647,000, respectively) by 102,000 Adults 25-54 and by 101,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (525,000 and 394,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+14% – 509,000 vs. 445,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 354,000 vs. 312,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Friday (2/20/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC” and “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws.” 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).

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. 16, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,867,000	1,138,000	843,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	7,595,000	1,180,000	872,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,168,000	475,000	350,000

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 2/16/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/9/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/17/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 2/22/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 2/23/25). Week 2 of 2024 Summer Olympics (w/o 8/5/24) and Week 2 of 2022 Winter Olympics (w/o 2/14/22).  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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