Week of Sept 22 Evening News Ratings: ABC and NBC See Total Viewer Growth

The first week of the 2025-2026 broadcast season delivered good news for ABC News and NBC News, as they experienced gains in total viewers for the week of September 22.

ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News should also be pleased with their respective performance in the advertiser-coveted Adults 25-54 demo, as they also saw week-to-week improvements within this measured category.

However, for the second week in a row, WNT’s demo lead over Nightly News was courtesy of an additional 48,000 viewers. This demo viewer difference remained steady despite Jimmy Kimmel resuming his late-night hosting duties on ABC after a brief suspension.

This was also the first week that the networks began using Nielsen’s big data and panel national TV as measurement currency. It combines the firm’s panel measurement with data from cable, satellite set-top boxes, and smart TVs across 45 million households and 75 million devices.

Note: The weekly average of ABC News is based on four days (Tuesday through Friday). Monday’s (09/22/25) broadcast was retitled to WNT-ABC due to the NFL. 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 with David Muir averaged 7.181 million total viewers and 856,000 Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of Sept. 22. It produced gains of +3% in total viewers and +2% in the demo compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance to the same week in 2024 (the week beginning Sept. 23), WNT was down by -4% in total viewers and -18% in the demo.

In second place in total viewers and the demo was NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas, averaging 5.701 million and 808,000 viewers, respectively. The broadcast was up by +3% in total viewers and +2% in the A25-54 demo. Additionally, it was the No. 1 broadcast in the demo on Friday (09/26/2025) with 786,000 viewers. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News fell by -5% in total viewers and -13% in the demo. 

CBS Evening News had 3.731 million total viewers and 419,000 viewers in the demo. The broadcast declined by -1% in total viewers and -21% in the demo compared to the previous week—the only morning show to experience regression in both measured categories. Its year-ago week numbers saw the newscast decline by -20% in total viewers and -38% 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 9/22/25), Previous Week (w/o 9/15/25), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 9/23/24). Beginning 12/26/22, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings. 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.