David Muir continues to reign supreme in the realm of evening network news, yet his dominance faces growing competition as NBC’s Tom Llamas steadily closes in on the longstanding ratings leader.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” wrapped up June as the nation’s leading nightly newscast, drawing an average of 7.82 million viewers. It also narrowly surpassed NBC’s “Nightly News” in the coveted 25-to-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel statistics.
Tom Llamas is turning the competition into a closer contest.
During June, NBC’s broadcast averaged 936,000 viewers within the 25-to-54 age group, trailing ABC’s 947,000 by just 11,000 viewers. This marks the narrowest June gap between the two networks in nearly a decade.
The shrinking difference rounds off Llamas’ inaugural year as the anchor, during which NBC has persistently eroded ABC’s stronghold in the key demographic.
Nonetheless, Muir has maintained a commanding lead in total viewers, with “World News Tonight” averaging 7.82 million viewers in June — roughly 1.4 million more than “NBC Nightly News,” according to Nielsen.
“World News Tonight” also continues to lead NBC by roughly 1.8 million viewers season-to-date and CBS by 4.3 million viewers — its largest lead over both rivals in more than three decades — even as sports preemptions and a carriage dispute affecting ABC affiliates disrupted distribution in some markets during June.
Still, NBC touted June as its fifth straight month of year-over-year audience growth across total viewers and key advertising demographics.
The network also said “Nightly News” posted its largest June audience in six years and recorded multiple daily demo victories over ABC during the month, including a weekly win during the week of June 8.
“CBS Evening News” remained a distant third, averaging 3.91 million total viewers — with 564,000 viewers who were 25 to 54 and 373,000 adults in the 18-to-49 demographic during June.
Still, CBS says its revamped broadcast anchored by Tony Dokoupil continues to build momentum after launching in January.
According to the network, the program is up 1% in total viewers from May while the 25-to-54 demo has grown 9% from a year ago and 7% from last month, marking its strongest monthly performance in the demographic since January.
The upticks came in spite of tumult at the network, especially on the “60 Minutes” staff.
Network executives also credit Dokoupil with helping reverse the steep audience declines that plagued the previous co-anchor format that featured Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson, who finished 2025 down 12% year over year in total viewers.
CBS expects the broadcast to post year-over-year growth during the second quarter despite typically softer television viewing during the summer months.
ABC has led the evening news race in total viewers since 2015, when “World News Tonight” overtook NBC following Brian Williams’ departure, and continues to hold a sizable overall audience advantage.
The Post has sought comment from all three networks.