ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil closed out the week of February 16 with no viewership declines in total viewers or the Adults 25-54 demo.
However, World News Tonight was the only evening newscast to record week-to-week gains in both measured categories. Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas saw across-the-board declines for the just concluded week, but it continued to be the most-watched broadcast in the advertiser-coveted demo, benefiting from NBC’s coverage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics.
Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight and CBS Evening News are based on four days (Monday – Thursday). Friday’s (02/20/26) ABC News broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC, and CBS News’ broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws. These broadcasts were 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 8.867 million total viewers and 1.138 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of February 16. The evening newscast grew by +2% in total viewers and +3% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance for the same week in 2025* (the week beginning February 17), WNT was up +7% in total viewers but down -1% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News finished second in total viewers and the demo, averaging 7.595 million and 1.18 million viewers, respectively. Nightly News maintained its demo lead over WNT with the help of 42,000 additional viewers. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was down -3% in total viewers and -5% in the demo—the only broadcast to see declines across-the-board. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News grew by +13% in total viewers and +16% in the demo—the only morning show to record any gains within this yearly comparison.
CBS Evening News had 4.168 million total viewers and 475,000 viewers in the demo for the week of February 16. CBS News’ newscast was flat in total viewers and grew by +4 in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast falling by -10% in total viewers and -26% in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
February 16, 2026
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,867,000 | 7,595,000 | 4,168,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,138,000 | 1,180,000 | 475,000 |
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 2/16/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/9/26), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/17/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 2/22/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 2/23/25). Week 2 of 2024 Summer Olympics (w/o 8/5/24) and Week 2 of 2022 Winter Olympics (w/o 2/14/22).
