The nightly newscast ratings for the week of April 27th show ABC News’ World News Tonight on top of NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News.
What We Know: ABC News‘ newscast grew its lead over NBC Nightly News in the total viewer category for a ninth straight week. The NBC News program, meanwhile, saw its 13th straight week of growth in the total viewership sector. For the week, CBS Evening News remained under the 4 million viewer tally.
What the Numbers Show: For the week of April 27th, ABC News continued its lead.
| Program | Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 |
|---|---|---|
| ABC World News Tonight | 8,300,000 | 1,004,000 |
| NBC Nightly News | 6,231,000 | 928,000 |
| CBS Evening News | 3,862,000 | 541,000 |
Compared to the prior week, World News Tonight was the only newscast to see a decline.
| Program | April 27 Total Viewers | April 20 Total Viewers | Difference | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC World News Tonight | 8,300,000 | 8,537,000 | ↓ 237,000 | ↓ 2.8% |
| NBC Nightly News | 6,231,000 | 6,168,000 | ↑ 63,000 | ↑ 1.0% |
| CBS Evening News | 3,862,000 | 3,771,000 | ↑ 91,000 | ↑ 2.4% |
However, World News Tonight saw the largest growth compared to the same week in 2025.
| Program | Week of 4/27/2026 Total | Week of 4/28/2025 Total | Difference | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC World News Tonight | 8,300,000 | 7,013,000 | ↑ 1,287,000 | ↑ 18.4% |
| NBC Nightly News | 6,231,000 | 5,880,000 | ↑ 351,000 | ↑ 6.0% |
| CBS Evening News | 3,862,000 | 3,637,000 | ↑ 225,000 | ↑ 6.2% |
What It Means: ABC News has consistently maintained a firm grip on overall viewership. Moreover, the fact that it has posted viewership growth for eight straight weeks can’t be dismissed as anything less than impressive. While the measurement method has changed, the broader point still remains: despite already leading the competition, ABC News continues to grow its ratings in a key area.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
