ABC’s “World News Tonight” reclaimed its perch as the nation’s most watched nightly newscast across all demographics last week, though it reportedly suffered a “massive meltdown” involving anchor David Muir on Tuesday.
His program drew 9 million total viewers during the week of Jan. 19 — tops in all of broadcast and cable, according to Nielsen ratings.
“World News Tonight” beat rivals “NBC Nightly News” and “CBS Evening News” in the key 25-54 age demographic favored by advertisers, figures showed.
While Disney-owned ABC News hailed the achievement as “the most commanding weekly performance in nearly six years,” Muir’s broadcast experienced a major glitch on Tuesday.
As the newscast got underway, he alerted viewers to a report from on-site reporter Matt Rivers in Minneapolis.
Instead of playing a prepared package from Rivers, the broadcast showed a series of flashes followed by Muir’s reappearance, according to the Status newsletter.
The anchor then looked to play a separate package from correspondent Victor Oquendo, but technical difficulties once again ensued and the segment did not air, Status reported.
Muir then went to meteorologist Ginger Zee for a weather report.
“Obviously this is what happens with live television from time to time,” a composed Muir told viewers.
According to Status, people familar with the situation described the chaotic scene as a “massive meltdown.”
A source familiar with the situation told The Post that “everyone gets hit with technical gremlins.”
“David stayed calm and carried on with the show. It’s what you do.”
Muir and his bosses can still take solace in their ratings win from last week.
NBC’s “Nightly News” finished a distant second to ABC last week, averaging 6.9 million total viewers for Jan. 19 to 25, according to Nielsen data.
ABC’s advantage over NBC totaled more than 2.1 million viewers for the week, its widest margin in nearly six years.
In the 25-54 demo, ABC averaged 1.09 million viewers, topping NBC’s 998,000 — a difference of just 90,000 viewers.
Earlier in January, Tom Llamas’ “NBC Nightly News” narrowly beat Muir’s broadcast in the prized demographic during a major breaking-news week.
Last week, Llamas beat Muir in the 25-54 demo on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Nielsen data. Llamas’s Wednesday broadcast topped Muir in the demo by 3,000 viewers.
The Thursday edition of “Nightly News” edged out “World News Tonight” by 106,000 young adult viewers, according to Nielsen figures.
CBS remained firmly in third place, averaging about 4.9 million total viewers for the week, according to Nielsen.
In the 25-54 demo, “CBS Evening News” drew about 675,000 viewers, well behind ABC and still short of NBC’s performance.
New anchor Tony Dokoupil’s tenure has gotten off to a rocky start. During his first week in the anchor chair, the “CBS Evening News” experienced an on-air mishap involving a teleprompter issue that briefly disrupted the broadcast and drew attention on social media.
While the problem was quickly corrected and CBS downplayed the incident as a routine live-television glitch, it added to the scrutiny surrounding Dokoupil’s high-profile debut as the network works to stabilize the long-struggling evening newscast.
An on-air crying episode also drew jeers.
Nonetheless, a CBS News release touted Dokoupil’s double-digit growth in total viewers — and in the 25-54 demo — compared to its 2025-26 season-to-date average.
CBS noted that its 4.9 million total viewers was 21% higher than its season average thus far.
The program was up 16% in total viewers and the key demo compared with the prior week.
During Dokoupil’s first three weeks, “CBS Evening News” has averaged 4.4 million viewers, a 10% improvement over its season average, with 597,000 adults ages 25-54, a 21% jump.
Dokoupil’s Jan. 19 broadcast drew 6.4 million total viewers, the highest total for the show in five years — though that attributed to NBC pre-empting its newscast with NBA basketball.
The broadcast has also generated 193 million views across social platforms, alongside a 26% jump in YouTube viewing minutes and a 64% increase in story consumption on CBSNews.com.
ABC News and NBC News declined to comment. The Post has reached out to CBS News.
