CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil recorded gains in total viewers and the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo for the week of July 20.
CBS News’ flagship evening program finished slightly below the 4 million total viewer mark but broke the 500,000 viewers barrier in the demo—the last time it was above this mark was the week of June 29.
Meanwhile, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas saw viewership declines in both measured categories for the just-concluded week. Still, the two networks remained far ahead of CBS.
Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight are based on three days (Monday-Wednesday), while NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News averages are based on four days (Monday-Thursday). Thursday’s (07/23/2026) and Friday’s (07/24/2026) ABC News broadcasts were retitled to WNT-ABC, while Friday’s NBC News and CBS News broadcasts were retitled to NBC Nitely News and CBS Evening Nws, respectively. 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 8.143 million total viewers and 1.05 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of July 20. The evening newscast was down -4% among total viewers and -2% among A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance during the same week in 2025* (the week beginning July 21), WNT was up +12% in total viewers and +5% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News was the No. 2 newscast in total viewers and in the demo, averaging 6.606 million and 960,000 viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News registered declines of -1% in total viewers and -4% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +20% in total viewers and +24% in the demo.
CBS Evening News finished the week of July 20 with 3.954 million total viewers and 516,000 demo viewers. CBS News’ newscast grew by +5% in total viewers and +9% in the demo compared to the previous week—the only newscast with growth in either measured category. Its year-ago week numbers showed CBS Evening News gaining viewers by +9% among total viewers and +4% in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
July 20, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,143,000 | 6,606,000 | 3,954,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,050,000 | 960,000 | 516,000 |
