Press release - Ratings
January 13, 2026
WITH MORE THAN 8 MILLION VIEWERS, ABC’S ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ BEATS NBC BY MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION VIEWERS AND CBS BY 3.9 MILLION — ABC WITH 8.3 MILLION VIEWERS ON MONDAY, 8.1 MILLION ON TUESDAY, 8.2 MILLION ON WEDNESDAY AND 8.2 MILLION ON THURSDAY — ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT’ IS THE #1 NEWSCAST ON ALL OF BROADCAST AND CABLE
Drawing Largest Audience in 5 Weeks, ‘World News Tonight’ Grows Week to Week Across the Board in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49
‘World News Tonight’ Is #1 in Total Viewers for 10th Season in a Row and in Both Key Adults Demos for the 7th Year Straight Season to Date
“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.078 million) and Adults 18-49 (748,000) during the week of Jan. 5, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
- “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.725 million and 707,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+20%/+1.353 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6%/+41,000).
- “World News Tonight” improved on the previous week in Total Viewers (+5%/+348,000 – 8.078 million vs. 7.730 million), Adults 25-54 (+12%/+106,000 – 989,000 vs. 883,000) and Adults 18-49 (+21%/+132,000 – 748,000 vs. 616,000), drawing its largest overall audience in 5 weeks — since w/o 12/1/25.
- “World News Tonight” (8.078 million, 989,000 and 748,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (4.166 million, 533,000 and 423,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+94%/+3.912 million), Adults 25-54 (+86%/+456,000) and Adults 18-49 (+77%/+325,000).
- Season to date, “World News Tonight” (7.887 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” (6.263 million) by 1.624 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.043 million) by 3.844 million. In addition, “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.
- “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” (972,000 and 697,000, respectively) is leading NBC (859,000 and 590,000, respectively) by 113,000 Adults 25-54 and by 107,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (504,000 and 375,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+12% – 468,000 vs. 418,000) and Adults 18-49 (+14% – 322,000 vs. 282,000) versus the comparable weeks last season.
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 Jan. 5, 2026)
| TOTAL VIEWERS | ADULTS 25-54 | ADULTS 18-49 | |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 8,078,000 | 989,000 | 748,000 |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 6,725,000 | 992,000 | 707,000 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 4,166,000 | 533,000 | 423,000 |
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 1/5/26), Previous Week (w/o 12/29/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/6/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 1/12/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 1/14/25). Beginning 12/26/22, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings.
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