WITH DAVID MUIR IN BEIJING, THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL OF TELEVISION IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT’ — AND #1 NEWSCAST IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49 — OUTDELIVERING NBC BY 1.9 MILLION AND CBS BY 4.1 MILLION

With David Muir anchoring from Beijing, China, last week, “World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (7.889 million) on all of broadcast and cable for the second consecutive week during the week of May 11, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research. “World News Tonight” has been the No. 1 program on all TV for 15 weeks this season (with and without sports).

• “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 newscast across broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (7.889 million), Adults 25-54 (962,000) and Adults 18-49 (709,000).
• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (5.970 million, 831,000 and 586,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+32%/+1.919 million), Adults 25-54 (+16%/+131,000) and Adults 18-49 (+31%/+123,000).
• “World News Tonight” widened its margins over “NBC Nightly News” week to week in Adults 25-54 (+79% – 131,000 vs. 73,000) and Adults 18-49 (+459% – 123,000 vs. 22,000).
• “World News Tonight” built on its lead over “NBC Nightly News” on the year-ago week by double digits in Total Viewers (+26% – 1.919 million vs. 1.517 million) and Adults 18-49 (+18% – 123,000 vs. 104,000).
• “World News Tonight” posted increases on the same week last year across the board: Total Viewers (+9%/+619,000 – 7.889 million vs. 7.270 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+78,000 –962,000 vs. 884,000) and Adults 18-49 (+15%/+93,000 –709,000 vs. 616,000). In addition, “World News Tonight” turned in year–to-year gains in overall viewers and in the key Adult news demo for the last 11 weeks.
• “World News Tonight” (7.889 million, 962,000 and 709,000, respectively) outdelivered “CBS Evening News” (3.806 million, 503,000 and 341,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+107%/+4.083 million), Adults 25-54 (+91%/+459,000) and Adults 18-49 (+108%/+368,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over “CBS Evening News” versus the year-ago week in Total Viewers (+17% – 4.083 million vs. 3.483 million), Adults 25-54 (+5% – 459,000 vs. 437,000) and Adults 18-49 (+25% – 368,000 vs. 295,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.388 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” (6.543 million) by 1.845 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.092 million) by 4.296 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+11% – 1.845 million vs. 1.664 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 4 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+4%/+312,000 – 8.388 million vs. 8.076 million) — since the 2021-2022 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” (1.049 million and 765,000, respectively)is leading NBC (939,000 and 654,000, respectively) by 110,000 Adults 25-54 and by 111,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (518,000 and 383,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+14% – 531,000 vs. 465,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 382,000 vs. 338,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.

NOTE: On Friday (5/15/26), “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 “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly 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 May 11, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	7,889,000	962,000	709,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	5,970,000	831,000	586,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,806,000	503,000	341,000

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 5/11/26), Previous Week (w/o 5/4/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/12/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 5/17/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 5/18/25). 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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