Only Evening Newscast to Grow vs. Last Year & Quarter, as ABC’s ‘World News Tonight’ Posts Smallest A25-54 for a 1Q
Marks Closest Demo Gap vs. ABC in 6 Years, with ‘Nightly News’ Topping ABC Multiple Weeks in A25-54
1st Quarter 2026: Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News delivers its largest audiences across the board for a 1st quarter in 3 years
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow across the board vs. last year & quarter
- Nightly News marks it closest A25-54 gap vs. ABC in 25 quarters (4Q19)
- Nightly News is the #5 most-watched program in all of TV in total viewers for the quarter, averaging 7 million total viewers, excluding specials, sports & syndication
1st Quarter: Nightly Stats
Averages 7 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 2.687 million (+63%)
- Nightly News increases total viewers by +748,000 vs. last quarter, +130,000 vs. last year
Averages 1.037 million A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +502,000 (+94%)
- Nightly News increases A25-54 viewers by +194,000 vs. prior quarter, +87,000 vs. last year
- Nightly News closes the A25-54 gap vs. ABC last year by 74%, last quarter by 64%
Averages 727,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +318,000 (+78%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last quarter by +151,000, last year by +79,000
- Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC last year by 54%, last quarter by 43%
###
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH TOM LLAMAS MARKS MOST-WATCHED MARCH IN THREE YEARS
Delivers Closest March Demo Gap vs. ABC in 6 Years
Outperforms Evening News Competition in Demo Growth, Up Double Digits in A25-54 & A18-49 vs. Last Year
March 2026: Ratings Highlights
- Nightly News delivers its largest March audiences across the board in three years, closest March demo gap vs. ABC in 6 years
- Nightly News outpaces ABC & CBS in demo growth vs. last year, +13% in A25-54 and +14% in A25-54
- Nightly News is the #5 most-watched program in all of TV in total viewers for the quarter, averaging 6.6 million total viewers, excluding specials, sports & syndication
March 2026: Nightly Stats
- Averages 6.609 million total viewers, topping CBS by + 2.557 million (+63%)
- Nightly News increases total viewers by +203,000 vs. last year
- Averages 979,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +486,000 (+98%)
- Nightly News increases A25-54 viewers by +113,000 vs. last year
- Nightly News closes the A25-54 gap vs. ABC last year by 42%
- Averages 673,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +305,000 (+83%)
- Nightly News increases A18-49 viewership vs. last year by +80,000
- Nightly News closes the A18-49 gap vs. ABC last year by 30%
###
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS WITH TOM LLAMAS LEADS EVENING NEWSCASTS WITH TWO STRAIGHT MONTHS OF GROWTH IN KEY DEMO
‘Nightly News’ Remains Only Evening Newscast Delivering Across-the-Board Viewership Growth vs. Last Season
Continues to Mark Closest Demo Gap vs. ABC in 6 Years for Current Season
Week of March 23 Highlights
- Nightly News leads evening newscast competition with two consecutive months of A25-54 of year-over-yeargrowth
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow across the board the board vs. last season
- Nightly News closes the year-over-year demo gap vs ABC by 28%, eight consecutive weeks of narrowing gap
- Nightly News continues to deliver its closest demo gap vs. ABC in six years for the current season
Week of March 23 Stats
- Averages 6.3 million total viewers, topping CBS by +2.418 million (+62%)
- Increases total viewership vs. last year by +249,000
- Grows total audience season to date by +59,000
- Averages 927,000 A25-54 viewers, beating CBS by +481,000 (+108%)
- Increases A25-54 viewers vs. last year by +168,000 (+22%)
- Narrows the A25-54 gap vs. ABC by 28% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A25-54 gap vs. ABC is 45% 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, +34,000
- Averages 616,000 A18-49 viewers, beating CBS by +304,000 (+98%)
- Increases A18-49 viewers vs. last year by 20% (+103,000),
- Narrows the A18-49 gap vs. ABC by 10% vs. last year
- Nightly News’ A18-49 gap vs. ABC is 31% better vs. prior year at this point in the season
- Nightly News is the only evening newscast to grow in A18-49 viewers vs. last season, +37,000
###
1st QUARTER 2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 1,037 | 727 | 6,934 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 535 | 409 | 4,247 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,078 | 789 | 8,665 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 12/29/2025-3/29/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
MARCH 2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 979 | 673 | 6,609 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 493 | 368 | 4,052 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,070 | 778 | 8,697 |
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 2/23/2026-3/29/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
WEEK OF 3/23/2026
| Program | P25-54 | P18-49 | P2+ |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| NBC NIGHTLY NEWS | 927 | 616 | 6,329 |
| CBS EVENING NEWS | 446 | 312 | 3,911 |
| ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT | 1,078 | 766 | 8,629 |
Nielsen Big Data + Panel, L+SD, 3/23/2026-3/29/2026. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only.
Note: Nightly was retitled on Thursday due to MLB coverage in prime time. CBS Evening News is based on a 3-day average due to coverage of Round 3 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday and Friday. ABC World News Tonight was retitled on Friday for unknown reasons.
