‘Nightly News’ Scores Key Demo Wins vs. ABC for Four Consecutive Weeks
Also Leads Competition in Increasing Viewers Across the Board vs. Last Season
PLUS: Saturday’s Primetime Special on Iran, Anchored by Llamas, Won the 8 p.m. Hour in Total Viewers
Week of February 23 Highlights
Tom Llamas anchored Monday-Thursday, Hallie Jackson anchored Friday.
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to post year-over-year growth in the key A25-54 demo for a full month.
- Nightly News scores key demo wins vs. ABC for four consecutive weeks, most recently ranking #1 in the key A25-54 demo on Thursday.
- Nightly News leads competition in growth across the board in year-over-year measurements and vs. last season
- Nightly News closes the year-over-year demo gap vs ABC by 72%
- Saturday’s 8 p.m. special on Iran, anchored by Llamas, won the hour with 2.4 million total viewers, also topping CBS News’ 10 p.m. special
- Nightly News continues to deliver its closest demo gaps vs. ABC in six years for the current season
Week of February 23 Stats
- Averages 6.8 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.618 million (+63%)
- Increases total viewership vs. last year by +148,000
- Grows total audience season to date by +28,000
- Averages 989,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +485,000 (+96%)
- #1 evening newscast on Thursday, topping ABC by +74,000
- Nightly News is only evening newscast to increase A25-54 viewers vs. last year, +61,000
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 72% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 49% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, marking its closest demo gap vs. the network in 6 years
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow vs. last season, +16,000
- Averages 689,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +309,000 (+81%)
- Only evening newscast to increase A18-49 viewers vs. last year, +47,000
- Narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 54% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 34% better vs. prior year at this point in the season
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow in A18-49 viewers vs. last season, +27,000
WEEK OF 2/23/2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 989 | 689 | 6,788 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 504 | 380 | 4,170 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,028 | 759 | 8,642 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 2/23/2026-3/1/2026. Average audience based on regularly titled telecasts only.
