Press release - Ratings
May 28, 2025
ABC NEWS’ ‘NIGHTLINE’ RANKS NO. 1 IN TOTAL VIEWERS VS. CBS’ ‘AFTER MIDNIGHT’ AND NBC’S ‘LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS’
‘Nightline’ Posts Double-Digit Gains Week to Week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Drawing its Largest Overall Audience in 3 Months
ABC News’ “Nightline” ranked No. 1 in Total Viewers (764,000) for the week of May 19, 2025, based on Live+Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research, leading CBS’ “After Midnight” and NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
- “Nightline” posted double-digit gains week to week across the board: Total Viewers (+18% – 764,000 vs. 650,000), Adults 25-54 (+21% – 133,000 vs. 110,000) and Adults 18-49 (+41% – 86,000 vs. 61,000), drawing its largest overall audience in 12 weeks — since w/o 2/24/25.
- This week “Nightline” covered the latest happenings inside the Sean “Diddy” Combs criminal trial, including testimony from rapper Kid Cudi and testimony from a male escort; the killing of two Israeli embassy staff members who were shot outside of an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.; the conviction of eight people in the 2016 Kim Kardashian jewelry heist; how airline delays and cancellations mount as the nation deals with an air traffic controller shortage; Angela Bassett’s return to the big screen with Tom Cruise in the new “Mission: Impossible” movie; Elizabeth Banks and the new whodunnit show “The Better Sister”; ABC News Studios’ docuseries “Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam” and more.
NOTE: On Friday (5/23/25), “Nightline” was retitled to “NL” and CBS’ “After Midnight” was retitled to “After Midnight-ENC.” For the week, NBC’s “Seth Meyers” was retitled to “Seth Meyers-SM” due to being repeats. ABC’s and CBS’ weekly averages are based on four days (Monday-Thursday).
ABC News’ “Nightline” is late-night television’s prestigious, award-winning news program featuring the most powerful, in-depth stories that shape our lives and the world around us. It is anchored by Juju Chang and Byron Pitts. Eman Varoqua is executive producer. The program airs weeknights from 12:35 a.m.-1:05 a.m. EDT on ABC. “Nightline” has also produced numerous original documentaries available on ABC News’ digital platforms and Hulu.
WEEK OF MAY 19, 2025:
| PROGRAM AVERAGES | TOTAL VIEWERS | A25-54(000)/Rtg | A18-49(000)/Rtg |
| ABC’s “Nightline” | 764,000 | 130,000/0.1 | 86,000/0.1 |
| CBS’ “After Midnight” | 491,000 | 108,000/0.1 | 76,000/0.1 |
| NBC’s “Late Night” | 620,000 | 149,000/0.1 | 104,000/0.1 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 5/19/25), Previous Week (w/o 5/12/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 5/20/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24-5/25/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23-5/26/24). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.
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ABC News Media Relations
Sydney Tretter Wolfish
sydney.tretter@abc.com