These are the evening news ratings for Q1 2026 and the week of March 23.
First Quarter 2026
Examining the quarterly ratings, there was good news to go around for all three evening broadcasts, including CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil, as an active news cycle resulted in quarter-to-quarter growth in total viewers and the prized Adults 25-54 demo.
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas finished the first quarter of 2026 up double digits in both measured categories. WNT continued to firmly hold the top spot in total viewers, continuing its first-quarter win streak in total viewers for six straight years. But the demo was where the battle was, with Nightly News posting a strong showing, trailing WNT by just 49,000 demo viewers during the just-concluded quarter. This was the closest demo gap vs. WNT in the past 6 years.
According to Nielsen Media Research, World News Tonight ended the first quarter with 8.729 million total viewers and 1.094 million viewers in the A25-54 demo. When put against the fourth quarter of 2025, WNT grew by +11% in total viewers and +12% in the demo. Compared with the year-ago quarter (Q1 2025*), ABC News’ broadcast ratings grew by +7% in total viewers but fell by -6% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News averaged 6.984 million total viewers and 1.045 million A25-54 viewers during the just-concluded quarter. It had a strong demo showing, as 49,000 viewers separated it from WNT. The newscast was up +12% in total viewers and +23% in the demo when compared to the prior quarter. Checking its performance relative to the year-ago quarter, it was up +6% in total viewers and the A25-54 demo.
Finally, CBS Evening News averaged 4.278 million total viewers and 542,000 A25-54 viewers in Q1 2026. This was the same quarter that saw Dokoupil take over the long-time newscast. It was up by +6% in total viewers and +8% in the demo vs. the prior quarter. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, it declined by -7% in total viewers and -18% among A25-54 viewers.
Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
1st Quarter 2026
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,729,000 | 6,984,000 | 4,278,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,094,000 | 1,045,000 | 542,000 |
Week of March 23
The final full week of March ended on a down note, with all three evening broadcasts posting week-to-week decreases in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained the No. 1 newscast in both measured categories for the week of March 23. It continued to dominate its timeslot competitors across the board, even after a down week.
