The final week of February concluded with some ratings normalcy, with ABC World News Tonight with David Muir establishing itself as the No. 1 newscast in the country with total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.
For the duration of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas moved ahead of WNT in the advertiser-prized demo, but it earned a silver medal during the just-concluded week, as WNT squeaked by thanks to 39,000 demo viewers.
However, the surprise of the week comes from the CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil, which was the only newscast to record a week-to-week gain in either of the measured categories. In addition, it was the only broadcast not to lose viewers for the week of February 23.
Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News are based on four days (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday). Tuesday’s (02/24/26) ABC News broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC, and NBC News’ broadcast was retitled to Nitely News. These broadcasts were excluded from the weekly and season averages.
According to national live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.642 million total viewers and 1.028 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of February 23. WNT reclaimed its title in the demo with the addition of 39,000 viewers. The evening newscast declined by -3% among total viewers and -10% among A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance for the same week in 2025* (the week beginning February 24), WNT was up +9% in total viewers but down -4% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News finished second in total viewers and the demo, averaging 6.788 million total viewers and dropping below the million viewer mark in the demo with 989,000 viewers. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was down -11% in total viewers and -16% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News grew by +7% in total viewers and +5% in the demo—the only morning show to record any gains within this yearly comparison.
CBS Evening News had 4.17 million total viewers and 504,000 viewers in the demo for the week of February 23. CBS News’ newscast was flat in total viewers and grew by +6 in the demo compared to the previous week—the only evening newscast with gains in either of the measured categories. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast falling by -3% in total viewers and -22% in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
February 23, 2026
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,642,000 | 6,788,000 | 4,170,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,028,000 | 989,000 | 504,000 |
