Here Are the 2026 Q1 Evening News Ratings

These are the evening news ratings for Q1 2026 and the week of March 23.

First Quarter 2026

Examining the quarterly ratings, there was good news to go around for all three evening broadcasts, including CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil, as an active news cycle resulted in quarter-to-quarter growth in total viewers and the prized Adults 25-54 demo.

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas finished the first quarter of 2026 up double digits in both measured categories. WNT continued to firmly hold the top spot in total viewers, continuing its first-quarter win streak in total viewers for six straight years. But the demo was where the battle was, with Nightly News posting a strong showing, trailing WNT by just 49,000 demo viewers during the just-concluded quarter. This was the closest demo gap vs. WNT in the past 6 years.

According to Nielsen Media Research, World News Tonight ended the first quarter with 8.729 million total viewers and 1.094 million viewers in the A25-54 demo. When put against the fourth quarter of 2025, WNT grew by +11% in total viewers and +12% in the demo. Compared with the year-ago quarter (Q1 2025*), ABC News’ broadcast ratings grew by +7% in total viewers but fell by -6% in the demo.

NBC Nightly News averaged 6.984 million total viewers and 1.045 million A25-54 viewers during the just-concluded quarter. It had a strong demo showing, as 49,000 viewers separated it from WNT. The newscast was up +12% in total viewers and +23% in the demo when compared to the prior quarter. Checking its performance relative to the year-ago quarter, it was up +6% in total viewers and the A25-54 demo.

Finally, CBS Evening News averaged 4.278 million total viewers and 542,000 A25-54 viewers in Q1 2026. This was the same quarter that saw Dokoupil take over the long-time newscast. It was up by +6% in total viewers and +8% in the demo vs. the prior quarter. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, it declined by -7% in total viewers and -18% among A25-54 viewers.

Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.

1st Quarter 2026

	ABC	NBC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	8,729,000	6,984,000	4,278,000
• A25-54:	1,094,000	1,045,000	542,000

Week of March 23

The final full week of March ended on a down note, with all three evening broadcasts posting week-to-week decreases in both total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained the No. 1 newscast in both measured categories for the week of March 23. It continued to dominate its timeslot competitors across the board, even after a down week.

Once again, CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil dipped below the 4 million total viewer mark, the second time it has done so in a three-week span.

Note: The weekly averages of CBS Evening News are based on three days (Monday – Wednesday), while ABC News’ averages are based on four days (Monday – Thursday), and NBC News’ averages are based on four days (Monday-Wednesday, and Friday). CBS News’ Thursday (03/26/26) and Friday (03/27/26) broadcasts were retitled to CBS Evening Nws due to the network’s March Madness coverage. ABC News’ Friday broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC, and NBC Nightly News on Thursday was retitled to NBC Nitely News. These broadcasts are 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 8.629 million total viewers and 1.078 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of March 23. The evening newscast was down by -2% among total viewers and A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance during the same week in 2025* (the week beginning March 24), WNT was up +16% in total viewers and +5% in the demo.

NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas finished in second place in total viewers and the demo, averaging 6.329 million and 927,000 viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News was down in total viewers by -3% and -5% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was up by +8% in total viewers and +13% in the demo.

CBS Evening News finished the week of March 23 with 3.911 million total viewers and 446,000 viewers in the demo. CBS News’ newscast saw declines of -6% in total viewers and -16% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast losing viewers by -2% in total viewers and -18% in the demo—the only broadcast with declines within this yearly comparison.

*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.

March 23, 2026

	ABC	NBC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	8,629,000	6,329,00	3,911,000
• A25-54:	1,078,000	927,000	446,000

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 3/23/26), Previous Week (w/o 3/16/26) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/24/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 3/29/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/30/25). Most Current Data Stream – 1Q26: 12/29/25 – 3/29/26, 4Q25: 9/22/25 – 12/28/25 and 1Q25: 12/30/24 – 3/30/25.