Here Are the Evening News Ratings for the 2024-2025 TV Season

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was America’s most-watched newscast in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for the just concluded 2024-2025 TV broadcast season.

However, it joined NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas and CBS Evening News in recording season-to-season declines across the board.

There should be a caveat associated with NBC News’ and CBS News’ numbers, as the two networks experienced anchor transitions during this period. NBC News saw Lester Holt step down from the newscast, with Llamas taking over, while Norah O’Donnell was replaced at CBS News with a dual anchor-led program featuring John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. 

According to Nielsen Media Research, when comparing its 2025 performance to the 2023-2024 season, ABC News’ World News Tonight had 7.594 million total viewers, a -2% decrease in total viewers. It had the same decrease in the A25-54 demo, which had 1.054 million viewers. 

NBC Nightly News averaged 6.020 million total viewers and 876,000 A25-54 viewers for the just concluded season. The newscast was down -6% in total viewers and -8% in the demo compared to 2024. 

CBS Evening News finished the season averaging 4.171 million total viewers and 588,000 A25-54 viewers. It was down by -10% in total viewers and -12% in the demo vs. the 2024 season—the only newscast with double-digit declines.  

	ABC	NBC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	7,594,000	6,020,000	4,171,000
• A25-54:	1,054,000	876,000	588,000

Week of September 15

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir may have been among the collateral damage resulting from the brief suspension of ABC’s late-night program, Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The newscast finished the week recording declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo, with the pain being especially felt in the demo, where it finished ahead of NBC Nightly News by only 48,000 viewers.

 Note: The weekly average of ABC News is based on four days (Tuesday through Friday). Monday’s (09/15/25) broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC due to the NFL. This broadcast was excluded from the weekly and season averages.

According to live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 6.990 million total viewers for the week of September 15. It saw a -2% depreciation in total viewers and fell by double digits, -16%, in the A25-54 demo, which had 842,000 viewers. Looking at its performance to the same week in 2024 (the week beginning September 16), WNT was down -3% in total viewers and -11% in the demo.

NBC Nightly News finished in second place in total viewers and the demo, averaging 5.541 million total viewers and 794,000 demo viewers. The broadcast was down -2% in total viewers but up +4% in the A25-54 demo compared to the previous week—the only newscast with positive gains in either of the measured categories. When looking at how it fared to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was down in total viewers by -1% and -4% in the demo. 

CBS Evening News had 3.762 million total viewers and 529,000 viewers in the demo for the week of September 15. The broadcast was down -3% in total viewers and -8% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers were down by -16% in total viewers and -23% in the demo. 

	ABC	NBC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	6,990,000	5,541,000	3,762,000
• A25-54:	842,000	794,000	529,000

Third Quarter 2025

Examining the quarterly ratings, CBS Evening News was the only broadcast to record any gains in either of the measured categories. This was a period that featured news stories like the murders of the Minnesota lawmakers, the ICE protests in Los Angeles, the Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin summit in Alaska, and the catastrophic flooding in central Texas and Milwaukee.

Unfortunately for NBC Nightly News, it was the only newscast to see across-the-board declines in the third quarter. 

According to Nielsen Media Research, World News Tonight finished the third quarter with 7.244 million total viewers, and looking at the A25-54 demo, it had 970,000 viewers. When put against the second quarter, WNT remained flat in total viewers and was down -1% in the demo. Compared to the year-ago quarter (Q3 2024), the ratings trend for ABC News’ broadcast showed a -1% decrease in total viewers and a -3% decrease in the demo.

NBC Nightly News averaged 5.576 million total viewers and 787,000 A25-54 viewers during the just concluded quarter. The newscast was down -3% in total viewers and -5% in the demo when compared to the prior quarter. Checking its performance relative to the year-ago quarter, it was down -10% in total viewers and -18% in the A25-54 demo.

Finally, CBS Evening News averaged 3.797 million total viewers and 523,000 A25-54 viewers in Q3 2025. It was down in total viewers by -1% but up by +1% in the demo vs. the prior quarter—the only newscast with gains during this period. Compared to the third quarter of 2024, it declined by -12% in total viewers and -14% among the A25-54 viewers.

	ABC	NBC	CBS
• Total Viewers:	7,244,000	5,576,000	3,797,000
• A25-54:	970,000	787,000	523,000

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 9/15/25), Previous Week (w/o 9/8/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/2/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 9/21/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 9/22/24). L+7/Most Current – 3Q25: 6/30 – 9/21/25, 2Q25: 3/31 – 6/29/24 and 3Q24: 7/1 – 9/22/24, 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.