Won Key Demos on Wednesday, Narrows A25-54 Gap vs. ABC by Nearly 80%
Third Consecutive Week of Averaging over 1 Million A25-54 Viewers
Marks Best Streak of Year-over Year Growth on Record Across the Board
WEEK OF AUGUST 17 HIGHLIGHTS
- Nightly News ranked #1 in the key demos on Wednesday, outperforming ABC by +74,000 in A25-54 and by +32,000 in A18-49
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow in the key demos vs. last week and year
- Nightly News increased its viewership across the board vs. prior year for the 29th consecutive week
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth on record
- Compared to the prior week, Nightly News narrowed its demo gap with ABC in A25-54 by 76%
- Nightly News posts the largest A25-54 and A18-49 viewer growth vs. last season among the evening newscasts, also up in total viewers
WEEK OF AUGUST 17 STATS
- Averages 6.6 million total viewers, overperforming CBS by +2.7 million (+67%)
- Increases total viewership audience vs. last year by +788,000
- Grows total audience season to date by +276,000
- Averages 1.025 million A25-54 viewers, leading CBS by +567,000 (+124%)
- #1 evening newscast on Wednesday in A25-54
- Increases A25-54 viewership by +3,000 vs. last week, +291,000 vs. last year
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 76% vs. last week, 38% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 48% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, marking its closest demo gap vs. the network in 7 years
- Leads the competition in A25-54 viewer growth vs. last season, up +94,000
- Averages 730,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +396,000 (+119%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +237,000 and last week by +10,000
- Narrows A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 21% vs. last week
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 32% better vs. prior year at this point in the season, closest demo gap vs. network in 6 years
- Leads the competition in A18-49 growth vs. last season, +85,000
WEEK OF 8/17/2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 1,025 | 730 | 6,634 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 458 | 334 | 3,965 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,059 | 816 | 8,462 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 8/17/2026 through Thursday, 8/20/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
Note: Nightly News data reflects a 3-day average (Mon-Wed), retitling Thursday due to local weather preemptions and Friday for summer retitling. ABC is based on a 3-day average (Mon-Wed, retitled both Thu and Fri) and CBS is based on a 4-day average (Mon-Thu, retitled on Fri).
