Tops ABC’s ‘World News Tonight’ & Delivers Largest A25-54 Audience in 6 Months
August 10, 2026 – NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas wins the week in the key A25-54 demo, topping ABC’s World News Tonight by +26,000 viewers for the week of August 3.
The NBC flagship newscast averages 1.1 million viewers in the key demo, its largest audience since February 16, 2026, while averaging 6.6 million total viewers.
Nightly News overtook World News Tonight for three consecutive nights beginning Monday, marking Nightly’s 5th weekly week for the season as the newscast continues to deliver its closest demo gap vs. ABC in 7 years.
This also marked the 27th consecutive week of Nightly growing across-the-board since last year, with Nightly delivering its best total viewer and A18-49 streak on record and its best A25-54 streak since 1997. Year over year, Nightly grew +54% in A25-54, +66% in A18-49 and +19% in total viewers.
Season to date, Nightly News remains the only evening newscast to grow across the board.
WEEK OF AUGUST 3 STATS
#1 IN A25-54 AND A SIX-MONTH HIGH
Averages 1.1 million A25-54 viewers, beating ABC by +26,000 and leading CBS by 551,000 (+107%)
- Marks 6 month high in A25-54 viewers, up +13% vs. last week and +54% vs. last year
- Delivers 27 consecutive weeks of demo growth vs. last year, the newscast’s longest streak since May 1997
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow among the key demo, +10%
- 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 7 years
UP 19% YEAR OVER YEAR IN TOTAL VIEWERS
Averages 6.6 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.744 million (+70%)
- Delivers 27 consecutive weeks of total viewer growth vs. last year, the newscast’s longest streak on record
- Nightly News grows total viewers by +19% vs. last year, 1% vs. last week
- Season to date, Nightly News increases total viewership by 4%
A18-49 AUDIENCE SOARS 66% YEAR OVER YEAR
Averages 768,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +373,000 (+94%)
- Nightly News is the only newscast up vs. last week, +9%
- Nightly News grows its A18-49 audience vs. last year by +66%
- Nightly News narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 57% vs. last year and last week
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 35% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, marking its closest demo gap vs. the network in 6 years
- Season to date, Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership by +14%
WEEK OF 8/3/2026 (with one day of data remaining)
Note: Nightly News was retitled on Thursday, 8/6 due to NFL Preseason coverage
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 8/3/2026 through Thursday, 8/6/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
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Dominique DonahueDominique.Donahue@Nbcuni.com
