ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas were the only two evening news broadcasts to record viewership gains in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for the week of July 13.
The battle between the two newscasts became even more interesting in the coveted demo. WNT leads Nightly News by 71,000 viewers.
Meanwhile, CBS Evening News was the only show to finish with viewership loss in both measured categories.
Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News are based on three days (Monday-Wednesday). Thursday’s (07/16/2026) and Friday’s (07/17/2026) broadcasts were retitled to WNT-ABC and NBC Nitely News, 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 with David Muir averaged 8.476 million total viewers and 1.073 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of July 13. The evening newscast was up +2% 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 July 14), WNT was up +17% in total viewers and +3% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News was in second place in total viewers and in the demo, averaging 6.684 million and 1.002 million viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was up by +5% in total viewers and +7% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +20% in total viewers and the demo.
CBS Evening News finished the week of July 13 with 3.754 million total viewers and 472,000 demo viewers. CBS News’ newscast saw declines of -1% in total viewers and -5% in the demo compared to the previous week—the only newscast to lose viewers in either of the measured categories. Its year-ago week numbers showed CBS Evening News losing viewers by -1% among total viewers and -5% in the demo—the only newscast to lose viewers in this yearly comparison.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2026) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
July 13, 2026 (Nielsen Big Data + Panel):
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,476,000 | 6,684,000 | 3,754,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,073,000 | 1,002,000 | 472,000 |
Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 National Live + Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings. Current Week (w/o 7/13/26), Previous Week (w/o 7/6/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 7/7/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 7/19/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 7/20/25).
