NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas was the only newscast with week-to-week gains in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo. For the week of October 12, Nightly News marked its 10th week out of 11 weeks with over 1 million demo viewers.
Meanwhile, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was the only evening newscast to lose viewers in one of the measured categories, declining in the demo.
Note: ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, and CBS Evening News’ weekly averages are based on four days (Monday-Thursday). ABC News retitled Friday’s edition (10/16/26) to WNT-ABC, NBC News retitled its broadcast to NBC Nitely News, and CBS News retitled its broadcast to CBS Evening Nws. These broadcasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages.
According to Nielsen national live+same-day big data and program ratings, ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.356 million total viewers and 1.133 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of Oct. 12. The evening newscast was up +2% in total viewers but down -1% in A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. During the same week in 2025 (the week beginning Oct. 13), WNT was up +12% in total viewers and +18% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News was No. 2 in total viewers and the demo, averaging 6.642 million and 1.018 million viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News grew by +2% in total viewers and +1% in the demo—the only broadcast with gains in both measurements. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +20% in total viewers and +32% in the demo.
CBS Evening News closed out the week of Oct. 12 with 4.219 million total viewers and 655,000 demo viewers. CBS News’ newscast was flat in total viewers but had demo growth of +7% compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed CBS Evening News up +14% in total viewers and +28% in the demo.
October 12, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,356,000 | 6,642,000 | 4,219,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,133,000 | 1,018,000 | 655,000 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 10/12/2026. Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2026-2027 Season (9/21 – 10/18/26) and 2025-2026 Season (9/22 – 10/19/26). Average audience based on regularly titled telecasts only.
