DURING WEEK OF COVERAGE ON POPE FRANCIS, THE #1 PROGRAM ON ALL OF BROADCAST AND CABLE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY IS ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR’ — OUTDELIVERING NBC BY 1.7 MILLION VIEWERS, THE LARGEST LEAD IN NEARLY 8 MONTHS, AND LEADING CBS BY 3.6 MILLION

“World News Tonight with David Muir” stood as America’s most-watched weekday program during the week of coverage on the death of Pope Francis in Total Viewers (7.432 million) on all of broadcast and cable and ranked as the No. 1 newscast across the board in Total Viewers (7.432 million), Adults 25-54 (1.047 million) and Adults 18-49 (691,000) during the week of April 21, 2025, based on Live+Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research.

• “World News Tonight” ranked as the No. 1 telecast of the day on Monday (7.842 million), Tuesday (7.174 million), Wednesday (7.281 million) and Friday (5.641 million).
• “World News Tonight” outdelivered “NBC Nightly News” (5.710 million, 769,000 and 495,000, respectively) by 1.722 million Total Viewers, by 278,000 Adults 25-54 and by 196,000 Adults 18-49.
• “World News Tonight” increased its margins over “NBC Nightly News” by double digits versus the previous week in Total Viewers (+36% – 1.722 million vs. 1.264 million), Adults 25-54 (+94% – 278,000 vs. 143,000) and Adults 18-49 (+31% – 196,000 vs. 150,000), delivering its largest lead of the season in overall viewers in nearly 8 months — since w/o 8/26/24. In addition, “World News Tonight” scored its largest Adults 25-54 margin in nearly 2 years — since w/o 5/29/23.
• “World News Tonight” posted week-to-week gains in all key demos: Total Viewers (+4%/+260,000 – 7.432 million vs. 7.172 million), Adults 25-54 (+9%/+88,000 – 1.047 million vs. 959,000) and Adults 18-49 (+1%/+10,000 – 691,000 vs. 681,000), hitting a 7-week high in the key Adult news demo — since w/o 3/3/25.
• “World News Tonight” improved on the same week last year in Adults 25-54 (+1%/+7,000 – 1.047 million vs. 1.040 million) and Adults 18-49 (+4%/+24,000 – 691,000 vs. 667,000), standing as the only evening newscast to grow year to year in both key Adult demos.
• “World News Tonight” (7.432 million, 1.047 million and 691,000, respectively) beat “CBS Evening News” (3.832 million, 531,000 and 377,000, respectively) by 3.600 million Total Viewers, by 516,000 Adults 25-54 and by 314,000 Adults 18-49.
• “World News Tonight” increased its advantage compared to the prior week with “CBS Evening News” in Total Viewers (+5% – 3.600 million vs. 3.434 million) and Adults 25-54 (+24% – 516,000 vs. 415,000).
• For the 7th week running, “World News Tonight” widened its gap on the year-ago week over “CBS Evening News” in Total Viewers (+16% – 3.600 million vs. 3.103 million), Adults 25-54 (+19% – 516,000 vs. 434,000) and Adults 18-49 (+19% – 314,000 vs. 263,000).
• Season to date, “World News Tonight” (7.853 million) is ranking No. 1 in Total Viewers for the 9th consecutive year, based on Most Current Data. “World News Tonight” is leading “NBC Nightly News” (6.286 million) by 1.567 million and “CBS Evening News” (4.462 million) by 3.391 million. In fact, “World News Tonight” is growing its Total Viewer lead over NBC compared to the same point last season (+24% – 1.567 million vs. 1.260 million) to its largest in 30 years — since the 1994-1995 season. In addition, “World News Tonight” is increasing its Total Viewer season margin versus “CBS Evening News” by 9% (3.391 million vs. 3.116 million) to its largest in 4 years — since the 2020-2021 season.
• “World News Tonight” is ranking No. 1 in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 for the 6th straight season. Season to date, “World News Tonight” (1.113 million and 770,000, respectively) is leading NBC (924,000 and 614,000, respectively), substantially increasing its margins from the same point last season in Adults 25-54 (+63% – 189,000 vs. 116,000) and Adults 18-49 (+71% – 156,000 vs. 91,000).
• In addition, “World News Tonight” is widening margins with “CBS Evening News” (645,000 and 433,000, respectively) by double digits in Adults 25-54 (+13% – 468,000 vs. 416,000) and Adults 18-49 (+17% – 337,000 vs. 287,000).

NOTE: On Thursday (4/24/25) and Friday (4/25/25), “World News Tonight” was retitled to “WNT-ABC.” The retitled telecasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages. ABC’s weekly averages are based on four days (Monday-Wednesday).

ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” airs 6:30-7:00 p.m. EDT on ABC. Chris Dinan is the executive producer of the broadcast.

EVENING NEWS (Week of April 21, 2025)

	TOTAL VIEWERS	ADULTS 25-54	ADULTS 18-49	HOUSEHOLDS
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT	7,432,000	0.8/11; 1,047,000	0.5/10; 691,000	4.5/17
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS	5,710,000	0.6/ 9; 769,000	0.4/7; 495,000	3.4/13
CBS EVENING NEWS	3,832,000	0.4/6; 531,000	0.3 /6; 377,000	2.3/ 9

Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 4/21/25), Previous Week (w/o 4/14/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 4/22/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 4/27/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 4/28/24). 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
Van Scott
van.scott@abc.com

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