NBC, ABC & CBS Evening News Ratings: Who’s on Top & Who’s Falling Behind?

The evening news ratings for the week of October 26 are in, and numbers were down across the board for ABC, NBC, and CBS, even though it was the week before the important midterm elections.

According to Adweek, citing Nielsen national live+same-day big data and program ratings, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir averaged 8.454 million total viewers and 1.157 million viewers in the Adults 25-54 demographic for the week of October 26. This was down 4 percent in total viewers and down 3 percent in the demo from the previous week.

Year-over-year numbers were better, with World News Tonight up 9 percent in total viewers and up 22 percent in the key demo compared to the same week in 2025.

NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas ranked second, averaging 6.652 million total viewers and 1.049 million demo viewers for the week of October 26. This was down 1 percent in total viewers and down 5 percent in the demo compared to the week before.

However, the show was up year over year, with an 8 percent increase in total viewers and a 24 percent increase in the demo.

CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil saw the biggest week-to-week drop-off, averaging 4.187 million total viewers and 590,000 demo viewers. This was down 9 percent in total viewers and 14 percent in the key demo compared with the prior week.

Compared to the same period in 2025, CBS Evening News was up 3 percent in total viewers and up 20 percent in the demo.

ABC 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 With Tony Dokoupil, Weeknights, 6:30/5:30c, CBS