‘Nightly News’ Scores Another Key Demo Win & Delivers Closest Demo Gap vs. ABC in 6 Years for Current Season
‘Nightly News’ Remains Only Evening Newscast Marking Across-the-Board Viewership Growth vs. Last Season
Week of March 16 Highlights
*Tom Llamas was off Monday-Wednesday
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to increase the key demos by double digits vs. last year, marking its seventh consecutive week of A25-54 & A18-49 growth
- Nightly News scores another key demo win, most recently ranking #1 in the key A25-54 demo on Thursday.
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow across the board the board vs. last season
- Nightly News closes the year-over-year demo gap vs ABC by 41%, seventh consecutive week of narrowing gap
- Nightly News continues to deliver its closest demo gaps vs. ABC in six years for the current season
Week of March 16 Stats
Averages 6.5 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.352 million (+56%)
- Increases total viewership vs. last year by +207,000, last week by +13,000
- Grows total audience season to date by +52,000
Averages 978,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +445,000 (+83%)
- #1 evening newscast on Thursday
- Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +142,000 (+17%) and last week by +34,000
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 41% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 47% 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, +29,000
Averages 672,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +288,000 (+74%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by 17% (+94,000), last week by +37,000
- Narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 32% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 33% 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, +35,000
WEEK OF 3/16/2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 978 | 674 | 6,518 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 533 | 386 | 4,166 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,102 | 800 | 8,821 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 3/16/2026-3/22/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only. Note: CBS Evening News is based on a 3-day average due to coverage of Round 1 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday and Friday.
