Evening news ratings for ABC, NBC, CBS
The gist
ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.454 million viewers the week of Oct. 26, ahead of NBC and CBS.
ABC's lead over NBC is its largest in 32 years.
How it unfolded
- Sep 23, 2026For the 2025-2026 season, CBS Evening News averaged 4.04 million total viewers and 525,000 A25-54 viewers, down 3% and 11% — the only newscast with double-digit demo declines. NBC Nightly News averaged 6.54 million and 949,000, up 9% and 8%.
- Oct 12, 2026Week of Oct. 12: ABC drew 8,356,000 total viewers and 1,133,000 A25-54; NBC 6,642,000 and 1,018,000; CBS 4,219,000 and 655,000, flat in total viewers but up 7% in the demo week to week.
- Oct 19, 2026CBS Evening News drew 4.63 million viewers, a 10% increase, per Nielsen data reported by Adweek; NBC had 6.72 million and ABC 8.84 million.
Key terms
- midterm elections
- US general elections held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term, when all House seats and about a third of Senate seats are contested.
- Adults 25-54
- A television audience measurement system by Nielsen Media Research that counts viewers and is used to decide whether shows are renewed or canceled.
Source: Wikipedia