ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was America’s most-watched newscast in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for the week of April 6.
However, WNT, NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas, and CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil did not register any week-to-week gains in either measured category for the just-concluded week. In addition, NBC News and CBS News suffered double-digit declines in the A25-54 demo.
The recorded week also saw WNT extend its demo lead over Nightly News to more than 150,000 viewers. This comes as the gap between the two evening newscasts shrank to 25,000 demo viewers the previous week.
Meanwhile, ABC News scored another win as its special live coverage of Artemis II’s return, anchored by Muir on Friday between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. ET, led all networks, including cable news, in total viewers and the prized Adults 25-54 demo.
Coverage of Artemis II’s return to Earth:
ABC News: 9.77 million total viewers; 2.362 million Adults 25-54 demo
Fox News: 4.999 million total viewers; 543,00 Adults 25-54 demo
CBS News: 4.584 million total viewers; 843,000 Adults 25-54 demo
NBC News: 3.912 million total viewers; 946,000 Adults 25-54 demo
CNN: 2.652 million total viewers; 597,000 Adults 25-54 demo
MS NOW: 1.379 million total viewers; 191,000 Adults 25-54 demo
Note: The weekly averages of CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News are based on four days (Monday-Thursday). Friday’s (04/10/2026) broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws and Nitely News, respectively, due to the Return of Artemis II. These broadcasts are 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 8.417 million total viewers and 1.067 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of April 6. The evening newscast was down -2% among total viewers and flat with A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance during the same week in 2025* (the week beginning April 7), WNT was up +12% in total viewers and +5% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News was No. 2 in total viewers and the demo, averaging 6.434 million and 909,000 viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was down -4% in total viewers and -13% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +6% in total viewers and +7% in the demo.
CBS Evening News finished the week of April 6 below 4 million total viewers, with 3.807 million, and also below the 500,000 viewers mark in the demo, with 477,000. CBS News’ newscast declined by -8% in total viewers and -16% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast growing by +2% among total viewers but dropping by -3% in the demo.
