The week of February 16, 2026 saw the following average ratings for the major broadcast evening newscasts, per Nielsen Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel ratings:
- ABC World News Tonight with David Muir: 8.867 million total viewers, 1.138 million Adults 25-54, 843,000 Adults 18-49. This placed it as the #1 newscast across broadcast and cable (excluding sports) for the second straight week. It more than doubled CBS's performance in total viewers (+113%) and key demos, while maintaining a strong lead overall. Notably, on Monday, February 16, it outperformed NBC's primetime Winter Olympics coverage that night in total viewers.
- NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas: 7.595 million total viewers, 1.180 million Adults 25-54, 872,000 Adults 18-49. NBC won the key Adults 25-54 and 18-49 demographics for the week (edging ABC in both), benefiting from Olympic-related interest, though it trailed ABC in total viewers.
- CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil: 4.168 million total viewers, 475,000 Adults 25-54, 350,000 Adults 18-49.
This remained in a distant third place, with ABC more than doubling its audience across categories.This period coincided with the 2026 Winter Olympics (Milano Cortina), which influenced viewership patterns—ABC continued its streak of winning Olympic weeks in total viewers, while NBC gained ground in the advertiser-coveted younger demos.