TV Ratings: ABC's WNT Tops Evening News Broadcasts

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.478 million), Adults 25-54 (1.033 million) and Adults 18-49 (743,000) during the week of March 9, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.514 million, 946,000 and 638,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+30%/+1.964 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+87,000) and Adults 18-49 (+16%/+105,000).
• “World News Tonight” widened its margins over “NBC Nightly News” compared to the previous week in Adults 25-54 (+74% – 87,000 vs. 50,000) and Adults 18-49 (+36% – 105,000 vs. 77,000) to post its largest lead in 6 weeks — since w/o 1/26/26.
• For the third consecutive week, “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer margin over “NBC Nightly News” on the year-ago week (+34% – 1.964 million vs. 1.462 million) by double digits.
• For the second week in a row, “World News Tonight” turned in gains on the year-ago week across the board: Total Viewers (+8%/+656,000 – 8.478 million vs. 7.822 million), Adults 25-54 (+3%/+31,000 – 1.033 million vs. 1.002 million) and Adults 18-49 (+6%/+39,000 – 743,000 vs. 704,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.478 million, 1.033 million and 743,000, respectively) more than doubled the performance of “CBS Evening News” (3.845 million, 468,000 and 327,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+120%/+4.633 million), Adults 25-54 (+121%/+565,000) and Adults 18-49 (+127%/+416,000), beating the CBS program by triple digits for the 5th consecutive week.

The newly revamped CBS Evening News — now associated with Bari Weiss and anchored by Tony Dokoupil — slipped below 4 million viewers last week. According to Brian Steinberg at Variety, that figure is significant because it crosses a psychological and strategic line that had previously raised concerns among executives at Paramount Global.

The drop becomes even more striking when compared with its main competitors. World News Tonight on ABC News, anchored by David Muir, continues to dominate with an average of 8.4 million viewers, while NBC Nightly News on NBC News, led by Tom Llamas, pulls in around 6.5 million.

The ratings slump also coincides with internal labor tensions. Roughly 60 unionized staffers at CBS News 24/7 staged a 24-hour walkout after contract negotiations stalled. Workers involved in the dispute have pointed to the company’s broader financial activity — including the proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition talks — as evidence that the parent company has the resources to meet their demands for improved pay and working conditions.