The meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping dominated the nightly newscasts last week. ABC’s World News Tonight led the way in the ratings.
What We Know: World News Tonight aired live from China on Tuesday through Thursday last week. NBC Nightly News aired live from the country from Tuesday through Friday. CBS Evening News was broadcast from Taiwan after anchor Tony Dokoupil reportedly experienced visa issues. The meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping dominated the coverage for the week. During the week, the ABC News broadcast led the overall viewership category, as well as the key Adults 25-54 demographic.
What The Numbers Show:
| Program | Total Viewers | Adults 25-54 |
|---|---|---|
| ABC World News Tonight | 7,889,000 | 962,000 |
| NBC Nightly News | 5,970,000 | 831,000 |
| CBS Evening News | 3,806,000 | 503,000 |
Each of the nightly newscasts saw ratings growth compared to the same week in 2025. That week last year was the first full week following the election of Pope Leo XIV.
| Program | May 11, 2026 Total Viewers | May 12, 2025 Total Viewers | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABC World News Tonight | 7,889,000 | 6,966,000 | ↑ 13.2% |
| NBC Nightly News | 5,970,000 | 5,465,000 | ↑ 9.2% |
| CBS Evening News | 3,806,000 | 3,766,000 | ↑ 1.1% |
What Remains Unclear: How much of an impact the change in Nielsen’s measurement had on the overall viewership totals for the week of May 12th.
What It Means: The broadcasts from China showed interesting results. Despite year-over-year ratings growth, all three networks declined from the prior week. One could guess that it isn’t welcome news after the resources utilized to uproot the programs and take them to the Asian nations last week.
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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.
