CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil was the standout broadcast to finish the week of May 11 on a positive note, recording week-to-week gains in total viewers and the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo.
CBS News’ evening newscast finished above 500,000 demo viewers for the first time since the week of April 27. Meanwhile, ABC News and NBC News’ evening newscasts were down in both measured categories.
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir continued to be the evening news leader in both categories, ranking as the No. 1 program on all of television among total viewers. This comes during a week that saw special coverage of President Donald Trump‘s visit to China, where he met with the country’s leader, Xi Jinping.
Both WNT and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas reported live from Beijing during the visit. It was reported that Dokoupil was unable to obtain a Chinese visa in time and had to report from Taipei during the visit.
Note: The weekly average of NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News is based on four days. Friday’s (05/15/2026) NBC News broadcast was retitled NBC Nitely News, and CBS News’ broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws. 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 7.889 million total viewers and 962,000 Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of May 11. The evening newscast was down by -4% among total viewers and -1% among A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance during the same week in 2025* (the week beginning May 12), WNT was up +13% in total viewers and +8% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News finished in second place in total viewers and the demo, averaging 5.97 million and 831,000 viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News fell by -3% in total viewers and -8% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +9% in total viewers and +7% in the demo.
CBS Evening News finished the week of May 11 with 3.806 million and 503,000 viewers, respectively. CBS News’ newscast was up +3% in total viewers and +6% in the demo compared to the previous week—the only network with gains within these measurements. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast gaining +1% among total viewers and finishing flat in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
May 11, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 7,889,000 | 5,970,000 | 3,806,000 |
| • A25-54: | 962,000 | 831,000 | 503,000 |
