WITH NEARLY 9 MILLION VIEWERS, THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL TELEVISION IS ‘ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ — THE MOST-WATCHED NEWSCAST IN TOTAL VIEWERS, ADULTS 25-54 AND ADULTS 18-49, BEATING NBC BY OVER 2 MILLION VIEWERS AND CBS BY 4.8 MILLION

 

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.901 million) on all of broadcast and cable during the week of March 2, 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 (8.901 million), Adults 25-54 (1.104 million) and Adults 18-49 (818,000).
• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.898 million, 1.054 million and 741,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+29%/+2.003 million), Adults 25-54 (+5%/+50,000) and Adults 18-49 (+10%/+77,000).
• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over “NBC Nightly News” week to week in Total Viewers (+8% – 2.003 million vs. 1.854 million), Adults 25-54 (+28% – 50,000 vs. 39,000) and Adults 18-49 (+10% – 77,000 vs. 70,000) to deliver its largest advantages in 5 weeks — since w/o 1/26/26.
• For the second week in a row, “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” year to year (+32% – 2.003 million vs. 1.513 million) by double digits.
• “World News Tonight” turned in gains on the previous week in Total Viewers (+3%/+259,000 – 8.901 million vs. 8.642 million), Adults 25-54 (+7%/+76,000 – 1.104 million vs. 1.028 million) and Adults 18-49 (+8%/+59,000 – 818,000 vs. 759,000).
• “World News Tonight” improved year to year in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+10%/+775,000 – 8.901 million vs. 8.126 million), Adults 25-54 (+5%/+57,000 – 1.104 million vs. 1.047 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5%/+42,000 – 818,000 vs. 776,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.901 million, 1.104 million and 818,000, respectively) towered over the “CBS Evening News” audience (4.117 million, 507,000 and 410,000, respectively), beating the CBS program by triple digits in Total Viewers (+116%/+4.784 million), Adults 25-54 (+118%/+597,000) and Adults 18-49 (+100%/+408,000) for the fourth straight week.
• “World News Tonight” increased its lead over the “CBS Evening News” week to week in Total Viewers (+7% – 4.784 million vs. 4.472 million), Adults 25-54 (+14% – 597,000 vs. 524,000) and Adults 18-49 (+8% – 408,000 vs. 379,000).
• “World News Tonight” widened its margins over the “CBS Evening News” versus the same week last year in Total Viewers (+35% – 4.784 million vs. 3.536 million), Adults 25-54 (+30% – 597,000 vs. 458,000) and Adults 18-49 (+17% – 408,000 vs. 348,000). In fact, “World News Tonight” scored its largest overall viewer lead over the CBS program in nearly 6 years — since w/o 4/13/20.
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (8.334 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” (6.599 million) by 1.735 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.159 million) by 4.175 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+2% – 1.735 million vs. 1.701 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 2 years, growing in Total Viewers compared to the same point last season (+1%/+77,000 – 8.334 million vs. 8.257 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” (1.039 million and 754,000, respectively) is leading NBC (940,000 and 653,000, respectively) by 99,000 Adults 25-54 and by 101,000 Adults 18-49. Additionally, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (523,000 and 394,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+15% – 516,000 vs. 447,000) and Adults 18-49 (+13% – 360,000 vs. 318,000) 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 March 2, 2026)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	8,901,000	1,104,000	818,000
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	6,898,000	1,054,000	741,000
CBS EVENING NEWS	4,117,000	507,000	410,000

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 3/2/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/23/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/3/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 3/8/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/9/25). 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.

*COPYRIGHT ©2026 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All photography is copyrighted material and is for editorial use only. Images are not to be archived, altered, duplicated, resold, retransmitted or used for any other purposes without written permission of ABC News. Images are distributed to the press to publicize current programming. Any other usage must be licensed.

Media Contacts

You must be logged in to view this content. Please log in or create an account.