The big three Television networks are not as popular as they used to be, according to the most recent Nielsen Ratings
Number one is ABC News with first quarter ratings World News Tonight is the big winner, posting gains in both total viewers and the key demographic.
According to Nielsen ratings, World News Tonight, hosted by David Muir, averaged 8.13 million total viewers in the first quarter of 2025. This is up slightly from the 8.12 million in the same period last year. The show also averaged 1.16 million viewers in the coveted 25-54 demo, up 3% on the same quarter the previous year.
Meanwhile, both CBS and NBC saw drops in total viewers and the key demo compared to the first quarter of 2024. NBC Nightly News, hosted by Lester Holt, averaged 6.6 million total viewers, down 3% on last year’s quarter average and 983,000 in the key demo, down by 1%.
CBS Evening News averaged 4.59 million total viewers, dropping 8% on its 2024 average, and 657,000 in the key demo, down 9%. This comes after the show’s long-time anchor, Norah O’Donnell, exited the network on January 23. Evening News debuted a new format on January 27, with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois helming the show.
While CBS and NBC were down on the same quarter last year, both networks posted gains on the last quarter of 2024. NBC Nightly News was up 9% in total viewers and 10% in the key demo compared to the prior quarter. CBS Evening News was up 1% in total viewers versus the last quarter, though dipped -2% in the key demo.
From the 1950s to the 1980s, during the network era of American television, there were three commercial broadcast television networks – NBC (the National Broadcasting Company, "the Peacock Network"), CBS (the Columbia Broadcasting System, "the Eye Network"), ABC (the American Broadcasting Company, "the Alphabet Network") – that due to their longevity and ratings success are informally referred to as the "Big Three".
