David Muir Dominates TV News Ratings, Leaving Competitors in the Dust

David Muir’s World News Tonight has achieved a historic milestone, securing its largest lead over CBS since electronic ratings began in 1991, as reported by Nielsen.

The program has surged ahead by 4.7 million viewers compared to its traditional competitor, CBS Evening News. Last week, Muir, age 52, drew an impressive audience of over 8.6 million, more than double the viewership of CBS’s new anchor, Tony Dokoupil.

This gap was even more significant among younger demographics, where Muir posted nearly 150% increases in both the 25-54 and 18-48 age groups.

Muir is also outperforming NBC’s Tom Llamas, with a lead of nearly 2 million viewers. This represents ABC’s most significant viewership advantage over NBC in 31 years, dating back to the 1994-1995 season.

This achievement is the result of four consecutive weeks of year-over-year audience growth, reinforcing Muir’s position as the leader in traditional media broadcasting.

It’s been nearly 12 years since he stepped in to succeed a then-second-place Diane Sawyer. The show had roughly the same amount of viewers back then – an anomaly amid cord-cutting and other trends. NBC and CBS have shed millions over the same timespan. 

CBS’s struggles are particularly dire: Dokoupil delivered the network’s lowest-rated first quarter of the 21st century, after being promoted from CBS Mornings in January.

Muir, meanwhile, recently emerged victor in a years-long feud with fellow star George Stephanopoulos, the host of Good Morning America. 

David Muir’s World News Tonight just notched it biggest win over CBS since ratings began being recorded in the Nielsen electronic database in 1991

The development puts the broadcast a full 4.7million viewers in front of its longtime rival, which is now hosted by former CBS Mornings host Tony Dokoupil. He has failed to move the needle 

Muir is also leading Tom Llamas over at NBC, by nearly 2million viewers overall. Llamas – a former World News Tonight weekend anchor  – has had success with younger viewers, though, with Nightly News inching toward ABC in the A25-54 demo and A18-49 as well

Dokoupil, 45, was elevated by Tiffany Network editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. His once-esteemed broadcast averaged just 4.3million viewers a night for the quarter, trending downward.

For the past two weeks, the show notched less than 4million views – a marker that raised alarms only a year ago when a dual-anchor experiment from former executives caused roughly 1.2million to tune out. 

The two-anchor format was scrapped by Weiss late last year. She was hired by Paramount’s David Ellison in October. Weiss went with Dokoupil in January after failing to hire a big name externally, Status reported at the time.

ABC and parent company Disney has had its own leadership changes, but have found a steady hand in Muir – seemingly at the expense of their other main star, Stephanopoulos.

The 65-year-old was once ABC’s chief reporter and chief political correspondent. Today, he holds the title of ‘chief anchor.’ Muir leads the network’s breaking news and political coverage, the Daily Mail understands. 

The arrangement bred tension between the two behind the scenes for several years, Status reported in December 2024.

Former CNN reporter Oliver Darcy, the publication’s founder, told the Daily Mail the following March that the animosity has since evaporated, with it being understood that Muir is ABC’s new ‘lead man.‘

Stephanopoulos still has ‘his own real estate’ in the network, Darcy added. 

Muir recently emerged victor in a years-long feud with fellow star George Stephanopoulos, the host of Good Morning America. He’s been ABC top star since stepping in for a then-second-place Diane Sawyer. Twelve years later, World News Tonight is overwhelmingly in first-place

Muir, pictured being honored at the Time100 gala in April, now oversees ABC’s breaking news and political coverage

‘He was the lead man for a while and now it’s [Muir].’ Stephanopoulos made his GMA debut in 2009. He joined ABC News in 1997 as a news analyst.

Muir joined ABC as a relatively unknown reporter in 2003. He was noticed early on by Bob Iger, he said.

Iger, 75, retired this year.