ABC's WNT Is No.1 Newscast With 8.3M Viewers

“World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.346 million), Adults 25-54 (1.136 million) and Adults 18-49 (836,000) during the week of Sept. 28, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” outperformed “NBC Nightly News” (6.894 million, 1.006 million and 689,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+21%/+1.452 million), Adults 25-54 (+13%/+130,000) and Adults 18-49 (+21%/+147,000).

• “World News Tonight” widened its margins over “NBC Nightly News” year to year in Adults 25-54 (+88% – 130,000 vs. 69,000) and Adults 18-49 (+465% – 147,000 vs. 26,000).
• “World News Tonight” improved on the same week last year by double digits across the board: Total Viewers (+14%/+1.012 million – 8.346 million vs. 7.337 million), Adults 25-54 (+35%/+292,000 – 1.136 million vs. 844,000) and Adults 18-49 (+51%/+284,000 – 836,000 vs. 552,000).
• “World News Tonight” (8.346 million, 1.136 million and 836,000, respectively) defeated “CBS Evening News” (4.240 million, 585,000 and 428,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+97%/+4.106 million), Adults 25-54 (+94%/+551,000) and Adults 18-49 (+96%/+408,000).
• Two weeks into the new season, “World News Tonight” is delivering across the board by double-digit increases compared to the same point last season: Total Viewers (+16%/+1.185 million – 8.452 million vs. 7.267 million), Adults 25-54 (+35%/+304,000 – 1.169 million vs. 855,000) and Adults 18-49 (+47%/+275,000 – 800,000 vs. 585,000), based on Most Current Big Data+Panel Ratings. In fact, “World News Tonight” is drawing its largest season viewership in 6 years — since the 2020-2021 season.

• Marks Closest Total Viewer Gap vs. ABC in 4 Months
• Grows Across the Board vs. Last Year, Increases Total & A25-54 Viewers vs. Last Week
• Continues to Deliver its Best Streak of Year-Over-Year Growth on Record

➤WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 28 STATS

• Averages 6.9 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.654 million (+63%)... Increases total viewership vs. last year by +1.01 million viewers and vs. last week by +379,000
• Narrows total viewer gap vs. ABC by 22% vs. last week, 8% vs. last year...Averages 1.1 million A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +421,000 (+72%)...Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +232,000 and last week by +29,000
• Nightly News narrows the A25-54 demo gap vs. ABC by 26% vs. last week...Averages 689,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +261,000 (+61%)...Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +164,000