NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas and the CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil finished the week of March 30 in the black in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir saw its demo lead over Nightly News shrink to just 25,000 viewers, the closest margins between the two newscasts since the week of Feb. 2.
Additionally, CBS News scored another win on Wednesday, April 1, as it was the most-watched network in the demo during President Donald Trump‘s primetime address from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET. The network led the way with 1.343 million demo viewers. It was also the second-most-watched network, behind Fox News, in total viewers during this half-hour period, with 4.914 million viewers.
President Trump’s Address
ABC: 3.473 million total viewers/ 803,000 Adults 25-54
CBS: 4.914 million total viewers/ 1.343 million Adults 25-54
NBC: 4.419 million total viewers/ 860,000 Adults 25-54
Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight are based on two days (Monday – Tuesday), while CBS News and NBC News’ averages are based on four days (Monday – Thursday). WNT on Wednesday (04/01/26) was preempted due to Artemis II coverage. ABC News’ Thursday (04/02/26) and Friday (04/03/26) broadcasts were retitled to WNT-ABC. CBS News’ Friday broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws, and NBC Nightly News’ Friday broadcast was retitled to NBC Nitely News. 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 8.598 million total viewers and 1.071 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of March 30. The evening newscast was flat among total viewers and down -1% with A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance during the same week in 2025* (the week beginning March 31), WNT was up +13% in total viewers and +2% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas finished in second place in total viewers and the demo, averaging 6.703 million and 1.046 million viewers, respectively, trailing WNT by just 25,000 viewers in the demo. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was up by +6% in total viewers and +13% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +8% in total viewers and +15% in the demo.
CBS Evening News finished the week of March 30 with 4.149 million total viewers and 571,000 viewers in the demo. CBS News’ newscast had gains of +6% in total viewers and +28% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast growing, with +6% in total viewers and +2% in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
