ABC World News Tonight and CBS Evening News recorded week-to-week gains in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for the week of August 25.  

Making things even more interesting, CBS Evenings had double-digit growth of over 20% in the demo, which came during the week leading up to the Labor Day holiday weekend. Unfortunately, this was also the week that saw the Minnesota school shooting take place, which may have led to increased viewership.

Meanwhile, NBC News’ Nightly News was the only broadcast to not have gains in either of the measured categories during the final week of August.

Note: The weekly averages of ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News’ newscasts are based on four days (Monday to Thursday). Friday’s (08/22/25) ABC News broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC, CBS News’ broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws, and NBC News’ broadcast was retitled to NBC Nitely News due to the Labor Day weekend. These broadcasts were excluded from the weekly and season averages.

According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 7.026 million total viewers and 872,000 Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of August 25. These were gains of +2% in total viewers and +4% in the demo compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance to the same week in 2024 (the week beginning August 26), WNT was down by -5% in total viewers and -13% in the demo.

Finishing in the No. 2 position in total viewers and the demo was NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas, averaging 5.321 million and 685,000 viewers, respectively. The broadcast was down by -6% in total viewers and -14% in the A25-54 demo—the only broadcast to see a downtrend during the just concluded week. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News fell by -5% in total viewers and -9% in the demo. 

CBS Evening News had 3.896 million total viewers and 597,000 viewers in the demo for the week of August 25. The broadcast rose by +3% in total viewers and had an impressive gain of +25% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers saw the newscast decline by -9% in total viewers and -6% in the demo. 

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 8/25/25), Previous Week (w/o 8/18/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 8/26/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 8/31/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 9/1/24). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC, and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.