“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as the No. 1 program in Total Viewers (8.219 million) on all of broadcast and cable (excluding sports) during the week of Oct. 5, 2026, based on Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
 |
| Graphic Courtesy of RoadMN |
- “World News Tonight with David Muir” ranked as the No. 1 newscast in all of broadcast and cable in Total Viewers (8.219 million), Adults 25-54 (1.139 million) and Adults 18-49 (836,000).
- “World News Tonight” defeated “NBC Nightly News” (6.482 million, 1.008 million and 705,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+27%/+1.737 million), Adults 25-54 (+13%/+131,000) and Adults 18-49 (+19%/+131,000).
- “World News Tonight” widened its advantage over “NBC Nightly News” compared to the previous week in Total Viewers (+20% – 1.737 million vs. 1.452 million) and Adults 25-54 (+1% – 131,000 vs. 130,000).
- “World News Tonight” increased its lead over “NBC Nightly News” year to year in Total Viewers (+11% – 1.737 million vs. 1.562 million), Adults 25-54 (+836% – 131,000 vs. 14,000) and Adults 18-49 (+167% – 131,000 vs. 49,000).
- For the third time in the three weeks of the new season, “World News Tonight” posted double-digit gains year to year in all key target demos: Total Viewers (+14%/+1.027 million – 8.219 million vs. 7.192 million), Adults 25-54 (+42%/+338,000 – 1.139 million vs. 801,000) and Adults 18-49 (+43%/+252,000 – 836,000 vs. 584,000).
- “World News Tonight” (8.219 million, 1.139 million and 836,000, respectively) defeated “CBS Evening News” (4.219 million, 613,000 and 466,000, respectively) in Total Viewers (+95%/+4.000 million), Adults 25-54 (+86%/+526,000) and Adults 18-49 (+79%/+370,000).
NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas has recorded nine consecutive months—36 straight weeks—of across-the-board year-over-year growth, marking its strongest such streak on record.
For the week of October 5, the newscast grew its key demographic audiences compared with the prior week in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49. It has also topped 1 million A25-54 viewers in nine of the last 10 weeks, underscoring consistent performance in the primary advertising demo.
- Averages 6.5 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.263 million (+54%)Increases total viewership vs. last year by +852,000
- Averages 1 million A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +395,000 (+64%)
- Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +221,000 and last week by +1,000
- Averages 705,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +239,000 (+51%)Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +170,000, last week by +16,000
- Narrows the A18-49 demo gap vs. ABC by 11% vs. last week