NBC Nightly News: Tom Llamas Ratings Revealed After Replacing Lester Holt

Erin Maxwell June 10, 2025, 4:54 pm

Tom Llamas — NBCUniversal Upfront Events — Art Streiber/NBCUniversal

A new era began at NBC Nightly News when Tom Llamas took over from long-time anchor Lester Holt on June 2. Now the early ratings are in for his first few shows.

ABC once again claimed the top spot, continuing its dominance in the nightly news race. World News Tonight with David Muir came out on top following Tom Llamas’s debut as anchor, with the program topping both Nightly News with Tom Llamas and CBS Evening News during the week of June 2.

World News Tonight with David Muir outperformed NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas during Llamas’s debut week, leading by 28% in ratings, with about 1.548 million viewers, including over 18% with the adults 25-54 crowd, drawing an average of 136,000 more viewers in that demo.

Muir’s news desk topped CBS Evening News by +79% in total viewers, just over 3.094 million, and about 389,000 more viewers among the key adults 25-54 demo.

During Lester Holt’s final week as anchor, David Muir outperformed Tom Llamas by a wider margin than he had over Holt, leading by 17% in total viewers and a striking 157% in the adults 25–54 demo.

Despite coming in second, NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas delivered the best year-over-year audience retention than any other newscast, holding steady with viewers in the A25-54 demo and the only newscast to grow among the A18-49 demo.

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As it stands, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir won the week of June 2 with 6.997 million viewers, earning an average of 907,000 viewers in the key adults 25–54 demo and 597,000 viewers in the adults 18–49 demo.

NBC Nightly News delivered a solid 5.449 million viewers and scored 771,000 viewers on average for adults 25–54 and 524,000 for adults 18–49 in key demos.

And finally, CBS Evening News got 3.903 million viewers to earn the third spot, as 518,000 adults 25–54 and 386,000 adults 18–49 viewers tuned in to the newscast.

“Anchoring NBC Nightly News is a profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility,” Llamas said in a statement last March. “Lester Holt is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time. Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”