In a closely contested ratings battle during the week of January 5, NBC Nightly News achieved a significant milestone by winning the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic for the first time since Tom Llamas took over as anchor in June. Despite this victory in the key demo that advertisers prize most, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir maintained its position as the top-rated evening broadcast in total viewership, underscoring the different metrics that define success in broadcast news.
NBC Nightly News averaged 992,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demographic for the week, narrowly edging out ABC’s 989,000—a margin of just 3,000 viewers. The victory marked a 47-week high for the NBC newscast and represented a breakthrough moment for the network’s evening franchise under Llamas’ leadership. The demo win was particularly significant given that NBC had been trailing ABC consistently since Llamas’ appointment. Tuesday’s broadcast delivered NBC’s largest single-day win over ABC in the Adults 25-54 category in four years, demonstrating the show’s ability to compete directly for younger, more affluent viewers that advertisers covet.
The strength of NBC’s performance was further evident in year-over-year improvements. The network narrowed the gap with ABC by 47 percent in the Adults 25-54 demographic compared to the same week in 2025, while improving its Adults 18-49 performance by 34 percent. Overall, NBC reduced ABC’s total viewer lead by 15 percent compared to the previous year, indicating a sustained competitive trajectory.
ABC World News Tonight, however, remained the clear leader in total viewership. The broadcast averaged 8.078 million total viewers for the week, significantly ahead of NBC’s 6.725 million. This marks the fundamental tension in evening news ratings: while NBC captured the demographic most valuable to advertisers seeking younger, higher-income audiences, ABC retained the larger overall audience. ABC’s dominance in total viewers represented a five percent increase from the previous week, marking its largest audience in five weeks.
The week’s ratings gains across multiple broadcasts were driven by heightened news interest following several major breaking news stories, including coverage of U.S. military action in Venezuela and the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. This news cycle appeared to benefit NBC particularly, as the network’s coverage resonated with the younger demographic that represents its target audience.
Meanwhile, CBS Evening News completed its first full week under new anchor Tony Dokoupil with mixed results. The broadcast averaged 4.166 million total viewers and 533,000 in the Adults 25-54 demographic. While Dokoupil’s primetime debut on January 5 drew over 4.4 million viewers, the audience declined steadily throughout the week, falling to 3.9 million by Thursday—an 11.4 percent decline from Monday. Compared to the same week in 2025 when Norah O’Donnell anchored the broadcast, CBS Evening News experienced the steepest decline among the three evening broadcasts, dropping 21 percent in total viewers and 28 percent in the Adults 25-54 demographic. However, CBS executives noted that the weekly average still surpassed the network’s prior season-to-date averages, offering some perspective on the transition.
The ratings landscape reflects the evolving priorities in evening broadcast news, where demographic performance often matters more than raw viewership numbers for advertising purposes. NBC’s breakthrough in the Adults 25-54 category signals the network’s improving competitive position, even as ABC maintains its overall audience advantage. For advertisers evaluating where to place their budgets, the week of January 5 demonstrated that the traditional evening news hierarchy is becoming more contested, with NBC making meaningful strides in the metrics that matter most to premium ad sales.