ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir maintained its dominant lead in the evening news race for the week of April 6-12, 2026, topping both total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demographic. NBC’s Nightly News with Tom Llamas held steady in second place with continued demo gains, while CBS’s Evening News with Tony Dokoupil trailed significantly in third.
Nielsen Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel ratings (regularly-titled telecasts only) for the week:
- ABC World News Tonight: 8.417 million total viewers (P2+), 1.067 million A25-54, 785,000 A18-49.
- NBC Nightly News: 6.434 million total viewers, 909,000 A25-54, 642,000 A18-49.
- CBS Evening News: 3.807 million total viewers, 477,000 A25-54, 326,000 A18-49.
ABC led NBC by roughly 1.983 million total viewers and 158,000 in A25-54, while outpacing CBS by 4.61 million total viewers and 590,000 in the key demo.
NBC comfortably beat CBS by about 2.627 million total viewers and 432,000 A25-54.
Context for the week: Ratings reflected typical spring viewing patterns with no major preemptions highlighted in available data. NBC noted this as its 10th straight week of A25-54 growth, positioning it as the only evening newscast showing year-over-year gains in younger news demos. ABC remained the clear #1 across broadcast and cable news in total viewers for the period.
These figures align with broader 2026 seasonal trends, where ABC has led consistently for years, NBC has shown competitive strength in the demo, and CBS continues to lag despite anchor changes. Full season-to-date averages would place ABC well ahead entering the later spring period.