ABC World News Tonight Maintains Ratings Lead Amidst Global News Focus

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir continued its reign as the most-watched evening newscast in the United States during the first week of March 2026, benefiting from heightened viewership driven by ongoing global events, particularly unrest in the Middle East. The broadcast maintained its lead in both total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demographic.

Ratings Performance: Week of March 2, 2026

According to Nielsen data, ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.901 million total viewers and 1.104 million Adults 25-54 viewers for the week of March 2, 2026. This represents a 3% increase in total viewers and a 7% increase in the 25-54 demographic compared to the previous week.

Year-over-year comparisons, looking at the week beginning March 3, 2025, show even more significant gains for WNT, with a 13% increase in total viewers and a 4% increase in the 25-54 demographic.

Competitor Performance

NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas secured the second position in both total viewers (6.898 million) and the 25-54 demographic (1.054 million). Nightly News also experienced week-to-week gains, increasing by 2% in total viewers and 7% in the demo. Compared to the same week in 2025, NBC Nightly News saw growth of 8% in total viewers and 11% in the demo.

CBS Evening News recorded 4.117 million total viewers and 507,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo. Notably, CBS Evening News was the only evening newscast to experience a week-to-week decline in total viewership (-1%), while it did see a slight increase (+1%) in the demo. Year-over-year, CBS Evening News experienced declines of 6% in total viewers and 19% in the demo—the largest yearly decline among the three major networks.

Key Takeaways

• ABC World News Tonight remains the most-watched evening newscast in the U.S.
• Increased viewership across all three major networks suggests a heightened public interest in news, likely driven by international events.
• CBS Evening News experienced a decline in total viewership compared to the previous week and significant year-over-year declines.
• Both NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight demonstrated growth in key demographic categories.

Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49 National Live + Same Day Huge Data Plus Panel Program Ratings. Current Week (w/o 3/2/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/23/26), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/3/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 3/8/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/9/25).