“World News Tonight with David Muir” opened the 2026-2027 season ranked as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.388 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) for the week of Sept. 21, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
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| Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN |
“World News Tonight” posted its most-watched premiere week in 6 years — since the 2020-2021 season — and has ranked as the No. 1 program for the last 24 weeks.
- “World News Tonight” stood as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.388 million), Adults 25-54 (1.153 million) and Adults 18-49 (687,000) during premiere week for the seventh year in a row — since the 2020-2021 season. Further, “World News Tonight” was the most-watched evening newscast during the opening week of the season for the 11th year in a row — since the 2016-2017 season.
- “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (6.495 million, 970,000 and 721,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+29%/+1.893 million), Adults 25-54 (+19%/+183,000) and Adults 18-49 (+20%/+146,000).
- “World News Tonight” increased its Total Viewer lead over its year-ago premiere lead by double digits (+28% – 1.893 million vs. 1.480 million) to its largest in 34 years — since the 1992-1993 season. In addition, “World News Tonight” widened its year-to-year premiere margins over the NBC program by triple digits in both Adults 25-54 (+281% – 183,000 vs. 48,000) and Adults 18-49 (+329% – 146,000 vs. 34,000).
- “World News Tonight” saw gains over the previous week in Total Viewers (+3%/+219,000 million – 8.388 million vs. 8.169 million), Adults 25-54 (+2,000 – 1.153 million vs. 1.151 million) and Adults 18-49 (+1%/+11,000 – 867,000 vs. 856,000), hitting 4-week highs in both key Adult demos — since w/o 8/24/26. In addition, “World News Tonight” stood as the only evening newscast to grow week to week across the board.
NBC Nightly News Delivers Double-Digitg Growth: Ranks as the #2 Most-Watched Program in All of TV
Week of Sep 21 Highlights:
- Nightly News grows across the board vs. last year by double-digit percentages, including +14% in total viewers, +20% in A25-54 & +30% in A18-49
- Nightly News ranks #2 in total viewers for the week with 6.5 million total viewers, excluding specials, sports & syndication
- Nightly News scores its 34th consecutive week of across-the-board growth vs. last year
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth on record