NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas finished the week of February 9 as the only evening news broadcast with week-to-week gains in total viewers and the prized Adults 25-54 demo.
NBC’s coverage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics also gave Nightly News a boost, making it the most-watched newscast in the demo. With Llamas anchoring from Milan, Nightly News had its largest audience in the demo since August 5, 2024.
Meanwhile, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil finished the week with declines in both measured categories.
Note: The weekly averages of CBS Evening News are based on four days (Monday – Thursday). Friday’s (02/13/26) CBS News’ broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws. This broadcast was excluded from the weekly and season averages.
According to national live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.657 million total viewers and 1.105 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of February 9. The evening newscast was down by -4% in total viewers and the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance for the same week in 2025* (the week beginning February 10), WNT was up +4% in total viewers but down -11% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News finished second in total viewers but won the demo, averaging 7.797 million and 1.24 million viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was up +8% in total viewers and +13% in the demo—the only broadcast with across-the-board gains. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News grew by +16% in total viewers and +22% in the demo.
CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil had 4.163 million total viewers and 458,000 viewers in the demo for the week of February 9. CBS News’ newscast was down by -9% in total viewers and -21% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast declining by -7% in total viewers and -28% in the demo.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
February 9, 2026
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 8,657,000 | 7,797,000 | 4,163,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,105,000 | 1,240,000 | 458,000 |
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 2/9/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/2/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 2/3/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 2/15/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 2/16/25). Week 1 of 2024 Summer Olympics (w/o 7/29/24) and Week 1 of 2022 Winter Olympics (w/o 2/7/22).
ABC,CBS,Evening News,NBC,RatingsRatings,ABC,CBS,Evening News,NBC#Nightly #News #Olympic #Boost1772097244
