dailyloe.com – During the first full week of May 2026, ABC World News Tonight led in evening news ratings.
ABC’s program, hosted by David Muir, averaged 8.183 million total viewers and 976,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic.
Despite this success, the ratings reflected a week-over-week decline of 1 percent in total viewers and 3 percent in the demo.
However, ABC World News Tonight showed a year-over-year increase with a 13 percent rise in total viewers and a 1 percent increase in the demo compared to the same week in 2025.
NBC Nightly News, anchored by Tom Llamas, secured the second position with an average of 6.125 million total viewers and 903,000 in the key demo.
This program experienced a 2 percent drop in total viewers and a 3 percent decline in the demo from the previous week.
Year-over-year, NBC Nightly News reported a 9 percent increase in total viewers and a 14 percent bump in the demo.
Meanwhile, CBS Evening News, led by Tony Dokoupil, averaged 3.702 million total viewers and 473,000 demo viewers.
This program faced the largest declines, down 4 percent in total viewers and 13 percent in the demo from the prior week.
However, CBS Evening News reported a 2 percent increase in total viewers compared to the same period last year, despite a 6 percent drop in the 25-54 demo.
Dokoupil became the anchor of CBS Evening News on January 5 after his promotion from CBS Mornings, as noted by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
