‘CBS Evening News’ Ratings Take Huge Swing: How They Compare to ABC & NBC

The evening news ratings for the week of October 4 are in, and it was a rough week across the board, except for CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil, the only broadcast to post a week-over-week gain.

According to Adweek, citing Nielsen national live+same-day big data and program ratings, CBS Evening News averaged 4.219 million total viewers and 613,000 viewers in the key Adults 25-54 demographic for the week of October 5. This was flat in viewers but up 5 percent in the demo compared to the previous week.

The show was also up compared to the same period in 2025, with an increase of 19 percent in total viewers and 45 percent in the demo.

Despite the demo increase for CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir held onto the top spot, averaging 8.219 million total viewers and 1.139 demo viewers for the week of October 5. However, the broadcast was down 2 percent in total viewers and flat in the demo compared to the week before.

It was better news in the year-over-year numbers, with World News Tonight up 14 percent in total viewers and up 42 percent in the demo.

Elsewhere, NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas finished in second place with 6.482 million total viewers and 1.008 million demo viewers. The show was down 6 percent in total viewers and flat in the demo compared to the previous week.

Compared to the same period in 2025, Nightly News was up 15 percent in total viewers and up 28 percent in the key demo.

CBS Evening News, Weekdays, 6:30/5:30c, CBS

World News Tonight, Weekdays, 6:30/5:30c, ABC

NBC Nightly News, Weekdays, 6:30/5:30c, NBC