‘Nightly News’ is Only Evening Newscast to Grow in Both Demos Year-over-Year Measurements while ABC’s ‘World News Tonight’ is Down Double Digits
Narrows A25-54 Gap vs. ABC by 71% vs. Last Year, Continues to Mark Closest Demo Gap vs. ABC in 6 Years for Current Season
Week of January 12 Highlights
- Nightly News ranks #1 in the key A25-54 demo on Monday, topping ABC by +91,000
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to increase A25-54 & A18-49 demos vs. last year, while ABC is down -14% in A25-54 & -12% in A18-49
- Nightly News narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 71% in year-over-year measurements
- Nightly News continues to deliver its closest demo gaps vs. ABC in six years for the current season
- Nightly News is the #2 most-watched TV show of the week with 6.679 million total viewers (excluding specials, sports, and syndication)
Week of January 12 Stats
- Averages 6.679 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.490 million (+59%)
- Nightly News’ total viewer gap vs. ABC is 5% better vs. prior year at this point in the season
- Averages 964,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +380,000 (+65%)
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to increase A25-54 viewers vs. last year (+16,000)
- Nightly News narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 71% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 48% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, marking its closest demo gap vs. the network in 6 years
- Averages 666,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +201,000 (+43%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last year by +25,000
- Nightly News narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 56% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 34% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, marking its closest A18-49 gap vs. ABC in 2 years
WEEK OF 1/12/2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 964 | 666 | 6,679 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 584 | 465 | 4,189 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,039 | 762 | 8,163 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 1/12/2026-1/18/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
