ABC World News Tonight with David Muir remained the most-watched newscast in the country with total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during the first week of March.
The unrest in the Middle East dominated the news cycle this past week. The news viewership benefited WNT, which increased its lead over its fellow timeslot competitors in both measured categories.
NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas joined WNT in recording week-to-week gains in total viewers and the advertiser-prized demo for the week of March 2.
All three evening shows posted gains in the demo, while CBS Evening News was the only newscast to post week-to-week declines in total viewers.
According to national live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight averaged 8.901 million total viewers and 1.104 million Adults 25-54 demo viewers for the week of March 2. The evening newscast grew by +3% among total viewers and +7% among A25-54 viewers compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance during the same week in 2025* (the week beginning March 3), WNT was up +13% in total viewers and +4% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News finished second in total viewers and the demo, averaging 6.898 million and 1.054 million viewers, respectively. Compared to the previous week, Nightly News recorded gains of +2% in total viewers and +7% in the demo. When comparing its performance to the same week a year ago, Nightly News grew by +8% in total viewers and +11% in the demo.
CBS Evening News had 4.117 million total viewers and 507,000 viewers in the demo for the week of March 2. CBS News’ newscast was down -1% in total viewers but up +1% in the demo compared to the previous week. It was the only evening newscast with week-to-week viewership loss in one of the measured categories. Its year-ago week numbers showed the newscast falling by -6% in total viewers and -19% in the demo—the only broadcast with declines within this yearly comparison.
*Please note that year-over-year comparisons are based on Nielsen Big Data+Panel (2025) vs. Panel (2025) measurements.
March 2, 2026
ABC NBC CBS • Total Viewers: 8,901,000 6,898,000 4,117,000 • A25-54: 1,104,000 1,054,000 507,000
Source: Nielsen, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49 National Live + Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings. Current Week (w/o 3/2/26), Previous Week (w/o 2/23/26), and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/3/25). Season to date: Most Current Data Stream: 2025-2026 Season (9/22/25 – 3/8/26) and 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/9/25).