All three evening newscasts did not experience any week-to-week declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo.

CBS Evening was the big standout for the week of October 20, recording double-digit growth among total viewers across its five days of airing. This positive news is somewhat dimmed by the fact that one of the show’s co-hosts, John Dickerson, announced his intended departure from the broadcast and the network at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, ABC World News Tonight was the only evening news broadcast not to grow in the demo.

Note: The weekly average of ABC News is based on three days (Tuesday to Thursday), while NBC News’ averages are based on four days (Monday, Wednesday – Friday). Monday’s (10/020/25) broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC due to the NFL, and Friday’s (10/24/25) broadcast was also retitled WNT-ABC. Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News was pre-empted due to the NBA. These broadcasts were excluded from the weekly and season averages.

According to national live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 7.864 million total viewers and 925,000 Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of October 20. The evening newscast grew by +3% in total viewers but was flat in the demo compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance for the same week in 2024 (the week beginning Oct. 21), WNT was up by +7% in total viewers but down -11% in the demo. It was the only newscast to show growth in one of the two measured categories within this comparison.

In second place in total viewers and the demo was NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas, averaging 5.843 million and 803,000 viewers, respectively. The broadcast was up by +3% in total viewers and +8% in the A25-54 demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News was flat in total viewers and down -12% in the demo. 

CBS Evening News had 4.090 million total viewers and 457,000 viewers in the demo for the week of October 20. The broadcast was up by +12% in total viewers and +6% in the demo compared to the previous week. Its year-ago week numbers saw the newscast decline by -5% in total viewers and -26% in the demo. 

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 10/20/25), Previous Week (w/o 10/13/25), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 10/21/24). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22 – 10/26/25) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23 – 10/27/24).