Remains Only Evening Newscast to Increase Total Viewers, A25-54 & A18-49 Viewers Season to Date
Continues to Narrow Demo Gaps vs. ABC, Most Recently by 77% in A25-54 & 84% in A18-49
Week of June 22 Highlights
*Tom Llamas anchored Monday, Hallie Jackson anchored Tuesday-Friday
- Nightly News scores its 21st consecutive week of across-the-board growth vs. last year
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth in the demo since November 2008
- Nightly News closes the year-over-year A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 77% and by 84% in A18-49
- Nightly News continues to deliver its closest key demo gaps vs. ABC in six years for the current season
- Nightly News is the only network evening newscast to grow its viewership across the board vs. last season
Week of June 22 Stats
- Averages 6.3 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.338 million (+58%)
- Increases total viewership vs. last year by +374,000
- Narrows total viewer gap vs. ABC by 15% vs. last year
- Grows total audience season to date by +176,000
- Averages 890,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +316,000 (+55%)
- Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +69,000
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 77% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 50% 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, +70,000
- Averages 655,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +276,000 (+73%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +119,000 and vs. last week by +12,000
- Narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 62% vs. last week, 84% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 35% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, closest demo gap vs. network in 6 years
- Grows A18-49 viewers vs. last season, +64,000
WEEK OF 6/22/2026
Note: ABC World News Tonight was based on a 3-day average, retitling on Tuesday, 6/23 (NBA Draft) and Friday. Nightly News and CBS Evening was based on a 4-day average, retitling on Friday, 6/26.
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 890 | 655 | 6,340 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 574 | 379 | 4,002 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 954 | 694 | 7,853 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 6/22/2026 through Thursday, 6/25/2026. Average audience based on regularly titled telecasts only.
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NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH TOM LLAMAS DELIVERS LARGEST AUDIENCE FOR A 2ND QUARTER IN 4 YEARS, INCREASES VIEWERSHIP ACROSS THE BOARD
Marks Closest Demos Gap vs. ABC in 7 Years, with ‘Nightly News’ Topping ABC Multiple Times in A25-54
2ND Quarter 2026: Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News delivers its largest total viewer and A18-49 audiences for a 2nd quarter in 4 years
- Nightly News grows across the board vs. last year, also hitting a three-year high in A25-54
- Nightly News marks it closest 2Q A25-54 gap vs. ABC in 7 years, narrowing the gap by 61% year-over-year
- Nightly News is the #5 most-watched program in all of TV in total viewers for the quarter, averaging 6.3 million total viewers, excluding specials, sports & syndication
2ND Quarter: Nightly Stats
- Averages 6.3 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 2.429 million (+63%)
- Nightly News increases total viewers by +364,000 vs. last year
- Averages 914,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +386,000 (+73%)
- Nightly News increases A25-54 viewers vs. 2Q25 by +139,000 (18%)
- Nightly News closes the A25-54 gap vs. ABC last year by 61%
- Averages 649,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +292,000 (+82%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last year by +117,000 (+22%)
- Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC last year by 44%
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2nd QUARTER 2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 914 | 649 | 6,295 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 528 | 357 | 3,866 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 991 | 740 | 8,120 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 2nd Quarter 2026 (3/30/2026-Thursday, 6/25/2026). Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
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