Won Key Demo on Tuesday, Grows +35% in A25-54 & +53% in A18-49 Vs. Last Year
Best Streak of Year-Over-Year Growth on Record in Total Viewers & A18-49
WEEK OF JULY 20 HIGHLIGHTS
- Nightly News ranked #1 in the key A25-54 demo on Tuesday, outperforming ABC (+43,000)
- Nightly News increased its viewership across the board vs. prior year for the 25th consecutive week
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth in total viewers and A18-49 on record
- Nightly News continues to mark its best streak of year-over-year growth in the demo since May 1997
- Compared to the prior year, Nightly News narrowed its demo gaps with ABC in A25-54 by 67% and in A18-49 by 62%
- Nightly News is the only network evening newscast to grow its viewership across the board vs. last season
WEEK OF JULY 20 STATS
- Averages 6.6 million total viewers, overperforming CBS by +2.652 million (+67%)
- Narrows total viewership gap vs. ABC by 14% vs. last week, 18% vs. last year
- Increases total viewership by +17% (+966,000) vs. last year
- Grows total audience season to date by +229,000
- Averages 960,000 A25-54 viewers, leading CBS by +444,000 (+86%)
- Increases A25-54 viewership by +35% (+247,000) vs. last year
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 67% 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, +80,000
- Averages 735,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +355,000 (+93%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +255,000 (+53%)
- Narrows A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 62% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 36% 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, +75,000
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NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH TOM LLAMAS OUTPACES ABC & CBS COMBINED IN DEMO GROWTH VS. LAST YEAR, SCORES MOST-WATCHED JULY IN SIX YEARS
Marks 11 Consecutive Months of Closing Demos vs. ABC, Delivers Closest A25-54 July Gap vs. ABC in 7 years
Posts 5-Month High in A18-49, Most-Watched July in 4 Years in A25-54
July 2026: Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News outpaces ABC & CBS combined in demo growth vs. last year, +162,000 in A25-54 and +178,000 in A18-49
- Nightly News delivers its largest July audience in six years, five-month high in A18-49 and most-watched July in four years in A25-54
- Nightly News marks 11 consecutive months of closing demo gaps vs. ABC, most recently by 48% in A25-54 & by 44% in A18-49
- Nightly News posts its closest A25-54 July gap vs. ABC in 7 years
July 2026: Nightly Stats
- Averages 6.4 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 2.627 million (+69%)
- Nightly News increases total viewers by +717,000 vs. last year, +36,000 vs. last month
- Biggest July audience in 6 years
- Averages 934,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +439,000 (+89%)
- Nightly News increases A25-54 viewers by +162,000 vs. last year
- Nightly News closes the A25-54 gap vs. ABC last year by 48%
- Biggest July audience in 4 years, best July gap vs. ABC in 7 years
- Marks 11 consecutive months of closing the gap year-over-year vs. ABC
- Averages 700,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +335,000 (+92%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last year by +178,000, by +45,000 vs. last month
- Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC last year by 44%
- Biggest July audience in 5 years, best July gap vs. ABC in6 years
- Marks 11 consecutive months of closing the gap year-over-year vs. ABC
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WEEK OF 7/20/2026
Note: Nightly News and CBS Evening News were based on 4-day averages, retitling on Friday. ABC World News Tonight was based on a 3-day average, retitling on Thursday and Friday.
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 960 | 735 | 6,606 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 516 | 380 | 3,954 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,050 | 820 | 8,143 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 7/20/2026 through Thursday, 7/23/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
JULY 2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 934 | 700 | 6,442 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 494 | 365 | 3,808 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,044 | 798 | 8,272 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, June 2026 (6/29/2026-Thursday, 7/23/2026). Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
