The first full week of 2026 saw the three evening broadcasts start on an upswing for a variety of reasons. NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas won the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo battle for the week by the slimmest of margins, a strong start for the network’s evening franchise.
Meanwhile, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and the first week of the CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil showed positive movement in both total viewers and Adults 25-54 compared to the transitional week the week before, spanning the end of 2025 and the start of 2026.
The previous week was also a holiday week, typically a slow viewership period, during which NBC News’ broadcast was not rated.
Despite CBS Evening News’ positive start, compared to the same week in 2025, when it was still helmed by Norah O’Donnell, the broadcast suffered the steepest decline among the broadcasts, down by double digits in both measured categories.
According to national live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.078 million total viewers and 989,000 Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of January 5. The evening newscast grew by +5% in total viewers and +12% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance for the same week in 2025* (the week beginning January 6), WNT was down -9% in total viewers and -26% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News ranked second in total viewers but won the demo, averaging 6.725 million and 992,000 viewers, respectively. It eked out a demo win over WNT, attributable to 3,000 additional viewers. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was down -9% in total viewers and -14% in the demo.
CBS Evening News had 4.166 million total viewers and 533,000 viewers in the demo for the week of January 5. The Dokoupil-led broadcast in its debut week was up +3% in total viewers and +10% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast dropped by -21% in total viewers and -28% in the demo—the only evening show with double-digit declines in both measured categories within this comparison.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2024) measurements.
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,078,000 | 6,725,000 | 4,166,000 |
| • A25-54: | 989,000 | 992,000 | 533,000 |
Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49 National Live + Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings. Current Week (w/o 1/5/26), Previous Week (w/o 12/29/25), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 1/6/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 1/12/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 1/14/25).
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