WITH 9.1 MILLION VIEWERS MONDAY, ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ IS THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL TV FOR THE 19TH WEEK IN A ROW AND MOST-WATCHED NEWSCAST IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49, OUTDELIVERING NBC BY 1.8 MILLION AND CBS BY 4.5 MILLION

For the 19th week running, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.462 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of Aug 17, 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 (8.462 million), Adults 25-54 (1.059 million) and Adults 18-49 (816,000).
• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.634 million, 1.025 million and 730,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+28%/+1.828 million), Adults 25-54 (+3%/+34,000) and Adults 18-49 (+12%/+86,000), seeing its largest overall viewer lead in 6 weeks — since w/o 7/6/26.
• “World News Tonight” widened its margins by double digits over “NBC Nightly News” on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+44% – 1.828 million vs. 1.266 million) and Adults 18-49 (+87% – 86,000 vs. 46,000).
• “World News Tonight” was up week to week in Total Viewers (+26,000 – 8.462 million vs. 8.436 million) to deliver its most-watched week in 5 weeks — since w/o 7/13/26.
• “World News Tonight” turned in double-digit gains on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+19%/+1.350 million – 8.462 million vs. 7.112 million), Adults 25-54 (+34%/+270,000 – 1.059 million vs. 789,000) and Adults 18-49 (+51%/+277,000 –816,000 vs. 539,000), posting year-to-year increases for the seventh straight week.
• On Monday (8/17/26), “World News Tonight” scored its most-watched telecast (9.063 million) in 5 months — since 3/17/26.
• “World News Tonight” (8.462 million, 1.059 million and 816,000, respectively) more than doubled its lead over “CBS Evening News” (3.965 million, 458,000 and 334,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+113%/+4.497 million), Adults 25-54 (+131%/+601,000) and Adults 18-49 (+144%/+482,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.336 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” (6.526 million) by 1.810 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.045 million) by 4.291 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+9% — 1.810 million vs. 1.667 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 5 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+5%/+430,000 – 8.336 million vs. 7.906 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” (1.041 million and 766,000, respectively) is leading NBC (942,000 and 662,000, respectively) by 99,000 Adults 25-54 and by 104,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (523,000 and 381,000, respectively) in Adults 25-54 (+8% – 518,000 vs. 480,000) and Adults 18-49 (+10% – 385,000 vs. 349,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Thursday (8/20/26) and Friday (8/21/26), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC” and “NBC Nightly News” was retitled to “NBC Nitely News.” On Friday, “CBS Evening News” was retitled to “CBS Evening Nws.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. The weekly averages of “World News Tonight” and “NBC Nightly News” are based on three days (Monday-Wednesday), while the weekly averages for “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 Aug. 17, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,462,000	1,059,000	816,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,634,000	1, 025,000	730,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,955,000	458,000	334,000

Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 8/17/2026. Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 8/23/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 8/24/25). Average audience based on regularly titled telecasts only.

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