CBS, NBC & ABC Evening News Ratings Show Big Swings

The evening news ratings are in for the first full week of May, and it was a week of declines across the board for CBS, NBC, and ABC.

According to AdWeek, citing national live+same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir held onto the top spot in both total viewers and the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic for the week beginning May 4.

The show averaged 8.183 million total viewers and 976,000 demo viewers. This was down 1 percent in total viewers and down 3 percent in the key demo compared to the previous week. However, numbers were up year over year, with a 13 percent increase in total viewers and a 1 percent rise in the demo compared to the same period in 2025.

NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas remained in the No. 2 spot, averaging 6.125 million total viewers and 903,000 demo viewers. Compared to the week before, the show was down 2 percent in total viewers and down 3 percent in the demo. However, much like World News Night, the program was up from 2025, with a 9 percent increase in total viewers and a 14 percent bump in the demo.

Meanwhile, CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil trailed its competition, averaging 3.702 million total viewers and 473,000 demo viewers. The show was down 4 percent in total viewers and down 13 percent in the key demo compared to the week prior.

Evening News, which has made headlines in recent weeks for dropping below 4 million viewers, was up 2 percent among total viewers compared to the same period last year. However, the program dropped 6 percent in the 25-54 demo.

Dokoupil took over as Evening News anchor on January 5 after he was promoted from CBS Mornings by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.

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

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

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