Latest Evening News Ratings: Who Is on Top Between ABC, NBC & CBS?
What To Know
- ABC’s World News Tonight remained the most-watched evening newscast overall for the week of February 9.
- NBC Nightly News saw the only increase in both total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demographic.
- CBS Evening News lagged behind its competitors, with both total viewership and key demo numbers declining.
The latest evening news ratings are in, and ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas were the big winners of the week beginning February 9.
According to live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, World News Tonight ranked as the No. 1 newscast across broadcast and cable in total viewers for the week of February 9, averaging 8.657 million. This was down from the week prior, which averaged 8.987 million total viewers.
In comparison, NBC Nightly News averaged 7.797 million total viewers, up from the previous week’s 7.233 million. It was the only newscast to increase total viewership from the week prior.
Nightly News topped the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic, averaging 1.240 million viewers for the week of February 9, up on the previous week’s 1.1 million. Again, it was the only newscast to increase in the key demo compared to the week before.
NBC is currently hosting coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, which has seen Nightly News mark its largest total viewership for the first week of a Winter Games in eight years.
World News Tonight, meanwhile, averaged 1.105 million viewers in the 25-54 demo. This was down slightly from the 1.15 million the week prior. Like NBC, the ABC news program scored its most-watched week during an Olympics in 8 years.
CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil trailed its competition, averaging 4.163 million viewers for the week of February 9 and 458,000 key demo viewers. These numbers were down from the previous week’s 4.576 million total viewers and 579,000 demo viewers.
Dokoupil, who previously co-anchored CBS Mornings, officially took over as the CBS Evening News anchor on January 5. However, his appointment has been met with backlash in some circles, with some accusing him and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of trying to appease President Trump.
World News Tonight with David Muir, Weeknights, 6:30/5:30c, ABC
NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas, Weeknights, 6:30/5:30c, NBC
CBS Evening News, Weeknights, 6:30/5:30c, CBS
Conversation44 Comments
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B
Really like Tom Llamas and NBC news. Feels like more content and he is very good at delivery. Was so disappointed when Holt left. He was a great interviewer. But I really have been pleasantly surprised by Llamas. I agree that ABC news has too many ads and long story intros. Gets on my nerves. Their whole news cast could be condensed down to 10 minutes.
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O
Lester Holt to me was a gold standard. Affable, undramatic, humble, eloquent, fair, balanced, and professional with a soothing resonant baritone, reluctant to telegraph his own personal political views.
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G
Started getting burned out on David on ABC and REALLY dislike their format of telling the viewers over and over about what they are going to tell us....then after 3 minutes of commercials, he finally tells us the story in 10 sec (with no more detail than the "previews) and then back to commercials. ABC should do less "previews", more news and swap David out with Whit
Like CBS's more "good news" than the others but thought Maurice and John weren't given enough time to generate a following
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C
I agree with the promo of “coming up” is getting more and more air time and it usually an afterthought quality
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L
I liked CBS news with Maurice and John. I think they left because the format was going to change to appease trump. That was being discussed once Bari Weiss took over. If they couldn't do honest reporting they left.
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D
I always watched CBS news but Tony not a good fit. Bring back Scott Pelley
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O
Yes, please.
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C
Pelley too old now.
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G
Absolutely love Tom Llamas. First time watched Nightly News since Brian Williams left. Now appointment TV.
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C
Tony is terrible, the broadcast is terrible. CBS deserves to be at the bottom. It’s a shame. The C in CBS now stands for crap.
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A
Fitting since we can now ‘C’ all the ‘BS’ going on there
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J
Totally agree, stopped watching CBS, after Tony took over. Bad choice
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G
David Muir deserves the best ratings!
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O
That's correct. If only he could shorten those intros and get to the stories, and if ABC could cut out some of those boring commercials and get to the stories. I once counted how many minutes David Muir spent on stories and how many minutes were spent on commercials and believe it or not, there was more time spent on commercials than there was spent on stories. Sad isn't it that we've become so commercialized.
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M
Hee Hee!!
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G
Headline: when comparing two things use between. When comparing three or more, use among. Please help save the language.
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O
Thank you. Love this grammar correction because the English language is so brutalized these days, it seems that people don't know what's correct and what's not.
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N
David Muir wastes too much time introducing the stories and when he tells them there is no substance, just what he said in the intro
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O
Totally agree with this comment. I have always felt that ABC has David Muir wasting too much time introducing stories then they go into a commercial and after that it's a snippet of a story and then a commercial, then snippet of another story then a commercial. It's almost as though they're in the commercial business trying to make money with very little substance about the stories. In fact, the story is almost the same as the introduction about the story.
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A
Watched ABC for years, like David, but he tells one short story then goes to Ad, absurd!! Likely to quit watching.
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O
I think we all knew how this would go before we even looked at the results. Change isn't always the best thing.
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K
watched David abc for years and now he is starting look a little stiff like a wax figure of himself. his posture is always the same. maybe he should try standing some times. always liked Tom nbc whenever he filled in for Lester. very happy to see him get the job. great delivery looks confident and relaxed, like that he begins and ends the show standing. good eye contact. Tony Tony Tony, really want him to succeed as evening news anchor. he was very likable on the morning show. the morning show demeanor does not translate well to evening. I keep watching Tony to see if he can figure out a balance between the two.
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M
I’ll stick to PBS news. Hate all the commercials and fluff stories on these 3 networks
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T
CBS is a joke losing viewers for its political ownership views.
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I
It's easy to rate CBS last because of it's awful management. End of story.
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G
None of them do a good job. ABC is the worst
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G
I was a producer at NBC and CBS News. Believe me, it's only about the ads. The actual news is only there to keep viewers mildly occupied between the commercials.
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B
It’s embarrassing to consider any of the networks as ‘news programs’.
They have degenerated into a step above Inside Edition with wasted time spent on car crashes, rescue, lost rings and surprise wedding proposals.
Very little time spent on Gaza, Iran, or other major overseas stories.
There’s this sense they’re trying to dumb us down. Too much time spent on mindless cute videos.
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S
All those stations are politically aligned with leftists news. No integrity in journalism anymore.
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J
Its a race to the bottom.
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C
I'm enjoying Tony in his new roll. I personally think he is doing a great job. Professional and honest. I'm a new fan of CBS!!!
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D
Tired of legacy news, the weather takes up most of the time. We had a snow storm too but nobody cares. Then we get a little about local news but it makes the national news. What about the midterm elections, who is running and where. How are they doing. Coverage of the Olympics could have been better. Why is Trump so interested in rebuilding Gaza? Another golf course, hotel maybe? How much is it costing us to float those battleships and fly planes around. No in-depth coverage on these issues. We sure do get informed on the latest drugs. World news is on, time to go in the kitchen and make dinner. You won't be missing much.
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P
I am the lowly person who likes CBS news. I like Tony. He was thrown to the wolves since Day one.
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P
I wish they would all report the actual news. They only report some of the news and they put a liberal spin on it.
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G
What language do you use? Your headline is not in English.
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H
Fox is in the bag, the best!
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O
Fox blew them all away. Left wing media once again hides the truth
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J
ANYONE THAT WOULD WATCH ANY OF THESE LAME NETWORKS IS A MORON !!!!
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A
Where is Fox?
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D
I haven't watched MSM for about 5 years now
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F
You fail to mention fox. Why? Read a report foxis always first.
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G
Fox News is primarily a 24-hour cable news and political commentary channel that operates as a hybrid, blurring the lines between news reporting and opinion-based entertainment. While it features traditional news segments, particularly in the daytime, its high-rated prime-time lineup is characterized by conservative commentary, which critics argue prioritizes entertainment over strict journalism.
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J
I will not watch anything with David Mur! He proved himself a liar during the presidential debates and I s not trustworthy for anything.
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G
Tony is doing a great job. I always watch CBS.
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