Marks Closest Total Viewer Gap vs. ABC in 4 Months
Grows Across the Board vs. Last Year, Increases Total & A25-54 Viewers vs. Last Week
Continues to Deliver its Best Streak of Year-Over-Year Growth on Record
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 28 HIGHLIGHTS
Note: Nightly News was based on a 1-day average (Mon), retitling Tue-Fri (MLB Wildcard Playoffs Tue-Thu). CBS Evening News was based on a 4-day average (Mon-Thu), retitling on Friday.
- Nightly News outpaces evening news completion in total viewer growth vs. last year and week
- Nightly News marks its closest total viewer gap vs. ABC in four months (since 6/8/26)
- Nightly News grows across the board vs. last year and increases total and A25-54 viewers vs. last week
- Nightly News scores its 35th consecutive week of across-the-board growth vs. last year
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth on record
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 28 STATS
- Averages 6.9 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.654 million (+63%)
- Increases total viewership vs. last year by +1.01 million viewers and vs. last week by +379,000
- Narrows total viewer gap vs. ABC by 22% vs. last week, 8% vs. last year
- Averages 1.1 million A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +421,000 (+72%)
- Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +232,000 and last week by +29,000
- Nightly News narrows the A25-54 demo gap vs. ABC by 26% vs. last week
- Averages 689,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +261,000 (+61%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +164,000
WEEK OF 9/28/2026
Note: Nightly News was based on a 1-day average (Mon), retitling Tue-Fri (MLB Wildcard Playoffs Tue-Thu). CBS Evening News was based on a 4-day average (Mon-Thu), retitling on Friday.
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Rtg | Rtg | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 0.80 | 0.50 | 6,894 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 0.46 | 0.31 | 4,240 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 0.90 | 0.61 | 8,346 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 9/28/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
