TV News Ratings Plummet in 2025 Except for One Surprising Newcomer

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The television news ratings for the second quarter of 2025 have been disclosed, and they suggest trouble for numerous prominent news programs. The data was unveiled by Nielsen ratings and encompassed shows ranging from World News Tonight with David Muir to CBS Evening News. Although some shows demonstrated their value through increasing viewership, others experienced a concerning decline.

In simple terms, the period between April and June in the year 2025 is referred to as the second quarter. Despite a constant influx of fresh news stories that keep viewers engaged, this hasn’t led to improved ratings for most major broadcast networks. With networks like CBS, ABC, NBC, and others striving for growth, they find themselves competing not only with each other but also against the growing trend of people obtaining news from social media platforms rather than traditional news programs. These rating figures might cause some worry.

Overall Ratings For News Shows On ABC, CBS & NBC Are Down Compared To The 1st Quarter Of 2025

The Drop In Ratings Is Unusual

As reported by TV Insider, ABC achieved remarkable success during the last quarter, with their popular news show, “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir,” consistently drawing around 7.37 million viewers each night. This program also maintained a significant advantage over NBC’s and CBS’ news shows. Nevertheless, despite these strong figures, all three network news programs saw a decrease in ratings compared to the first quarter of 2025.

Regardless of a recent dip in viewership, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir continues to maintain a significant edge. Particularly noteworthy is its performance among adults aged 25-54, a key demographic for news consumption. This leading position has been sustained since the start of 2020. However, while it holds the top spot, the decrease in ratings remains a concern.

NBC Nightly News Has An Uptick In Ratings Since Tom Llamas Took Over

Llamas Is Growing NBC Nightly News

As a movie reviewer, I must say that despite some lackluster ratings in recent quarters, NBC has managed to turn things around with a fresh face gracing the screen of NBC Nightly News. Since Tom Llamas stepped into Lester Holt’s shoes on June 2, 2025, the show has seen a significant boost. It’s impressive to note that this upswing in ratings occurred so soon after his debut, indicating a promising future for both the show and the network.

According to TV Insider, NBC Nightly News saw an increase of 7% in viewership during June compared to June 2024. Although this may appear small, it’s still a substantial jump. This is particularly noteworthy because Llamas is relatively new as the host, and yet his ratings from the first quarter have already surpassed those of Holt.

Fox Continues To Dominate On Cable, Beating CNN & MSNBC

Fox News Is Highly Watched

Despite the latest Nielsen ratings indicating a shift, Fox News still holds the top spot on cable television, outperforming both CNN and MSNBC significantly. While Fox News’ ratings did decrease compared to the first quarter of 2025, they still managed an impressive 1.63 million daily viewers, contrasting with CNN’s 406,000 and MSNBC’s 596,000.

In much the same way that ABC’s news program reigns supreme, Fox News also leads among viewers aged 25 to 54. It boasts an impressive 202,000 daily viewers, which is significantly more than CNN’s and MSNBC’s viewership of 71,000 and 57,000 respectively. However, it’s worth noting that Fox News’ numbers have decreased slightly from its initial quarter.

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2025-07-05 01:18