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David Muir remains the undisputed king of the evening network news, while NBC’s Tom Llamas continues to gain ground on the perennial ratings leader.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” finished June as the nation’s most-watched nightly newscast, averaging 7.82 million viewers and narrowly edging out NBC’s “Nightly News” in the advertiser-coveted 25-to-54 demographic, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel figures.
Llamas is making the race tighter.
The NBC broadcast averaged 936,000 viewers among adults 25 to 54 during June — just 11,000 behind ABC’s 947,000 — marking the closest June gap between the two networks in nine years.
The narrowing margin caps Llamas’ first year as anchor, during which NBC has steadily chipped away at ABC’s demographic advantage.
Nonetheless, Muir has maintained a commanding lead in total viewers, with “World News Tonight” averaging 7.82 million viewers in June — roughly 1.4 million more than “NBC Nightly News,” according to Nielsen.
“World News Tonight” also continues to lead NBC by roughly 1.8 million viewers season-to-date and CBS by 4.3 million viewers — its largest lead over both rivals in more than three decades — even as sports preemptions and a carriage dispute affecting ABC affiliates disrupted distribution in some markets during June.
Still, NBC touted June as its fifth straight month of year-over-year audience growth across total viewers and key advertising demographics.
The network also said “Nightly News” posted its largest June audience in six years and recorded multiple daily demo victories over ABC during the month, including a weekly win during the week of June 8.
“CBS Evening News” remained a distant third, averaging 3.91 million total viewers — with 564,000 viewers who were 25 to 54 and 373,000 adults in the 18-to-49 demographic during June.
Still, CBS says its revamped broadcast anchored by Tony Dokoupil continues to build momentum after launching in January.
According to the network, the program is up 1% in total viewers from May while the 25-to-54 demo has grown 9% from a year ago and 7% from last month, marking its strongest monthly performance in the demographic since January.
The upticks came in spite of tumult at the network, especially on the “60 Minutes” staff.
Network executives also credit Dokoupil with helping reverse the steep audience declines that plagued the previous co-anchor format that featured Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson, who finished 2025 down 12% year over year in total viewers.
CBS expects the broadcast to post year-over-year growth during the second quarter despite typically softer television viewing during the summer months.
ABC has led the evening news race in total viewers since 2015, when “World News Tonight” overtook NBC following Brian Williams’ departure, and continues to hold a sizable overall audience advantage.
The Post has sought comment from all three networks.
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