‘Nightly News’ Dominates Evening News Competition in A25-54 & A18-49 Growth
Marks Largest Demo Audiences in 8 Months, Delivers 1 million A25-54 Viewers for 11 of the last 12 weeks
WEEK OF OCTOBER 19 HIGHLIGHTS
- Nightly News ranked #1 in the key A25-54 and A18-49 demos on Wednesday, topping ABC by +63,000 in A25-54 and +43,000 in A18-49
- Llamas anchored from Iowa last Wednesday, where he interviewed both candidates in the senate race
- Nightly News dominates evening news competition in demo growth vs. last year and week
- Nightly News posts its largest demo audiences in 8 months
- Nightly News marks 38 weeks of across-the-board growth vs. last year
- Nightly News surpasses 1 million A25-54 viewers in 11 of the last 12 weeks
- Nightly News delivers its best streak of year-over-year growth on record
- Nightly News is the #3 most-watched program in all of TV last week in total viewers, averaging 6.7 million total viewers, excluding specials, sports & syndication
WEEK OF OCTOBER 19 STATS
- Averages 6.7 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.094 million (+45%)
- Increases total viewership vs. last year by +83,000 and last week by +878,000
- Averages 1.11 million A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +419,000 (+61%)
- Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +304,000 and last week by +89,000
- Narrows A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 24% vs. last year, 22% vs. last week
- Averages 809,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +325,000 (+67%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by +303,000, last week by +54,000
- Narrows the A18-49 demo gap vs. ABC by 58% vs. last year, 39% vs. last week
WEEK OF 10/19/2026 (with one day of data remaining)
Note: Nightly News was based on a 3-day average (Mon, Wed, Thu), retitled on Tuesday due to NBA impact and on Friday. ABC World News Tonight and CBS Evening News were also retitled on Friday.
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 1,107 | 809 | 6,720 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 688 | 484 | 4,626 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,198 | 863 | 8,837 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, Week of 10/19/2026 through Thursday, 10/22/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
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NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH TOM LLAMAS MARKS LARGEST OCTOBER DEMO AUDIENCES IN FOUR YEARS
Marks Closest A18-49 Gap vs. ABC for an October in 7 Years
Posts 8-Month High in A25-54, Most-Watched October in 3 Years in Total Viewers
Delivers 9 Consecutive Months of Year-Over-Year Growth
October 2026: Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News delivers its largest October A25-54 & A18-49 audiences in 4 years
- Nightly News posts its biggest October total viewer audience in 3 years with 6.6 million total viewers
- Nightly News delivers its closest A18-49 gap for October in 7 years vs. ABC
- Nightly News marks an 8-month high in the key demo and 9 consecutive months of year-over-year growth
October 2026: Nightly Stats
- Averages 6.6 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 2.301 million (+53%)
- Nightly News increases total viewers by +904,000 vs. last year, +24,000 vs. last month
- Narrows total viewer gap vs. ABC by 3% vs. last year
- Biggest October audience in 3 years
- Averages 1.04 million A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +401,000 (+63%)
- Nightly News increases A25-54 viewers by +259,000 vs. last year, +10,000 vs. last month
- Biggest October audience in 4 years
- Averages 746,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +282,000 (+61%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last year by +227,000
- Biggest October audience in 4 years
- Narrows A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 2% vs. last year
OCTOBER 2026 (with one day of data remaining)
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 1,036 | 746 | 6,628 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 635 | 464 | 4,327 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,150 | 844 | 8,434 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, October 2026 (9/28/2026- Thursday 10/22/2026). Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
