The network evening news is in flux: Why an American TV institution is under pressure

For broadcast networks, the evening quality broadcast is simply a cherished portion of their legacies — having brought the likes of Walter Cronkite, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings into surviving rooms implicit the decades.

But with pressures mounting connected the accepted TV business, the American instauration is successful a play of flux.

The accepted TV assemblage is simply a dilatory melting glacier, with web evening newscasts down astir 1 cardinal viewers successful the 2024-25 play compared to the erstwhile year, according to Nielsen. As a result, web quality executives volition beryllium connected borderline this year, with 2 of the 3 broadcasts undergoing large overhauls.

Next month, NBC volition regenerate longtime “Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt with Tom Llamas, 45, who helms the streaming NBC News Now programme “Top Story.” It volition people lone the 4th alteration successful the “Nightly” relation since 1983.

This comes aft “CBS Evening News” successful January replaced Norah O’Donnell with a duo of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. Conceived by outgoing “60 Minutes” enforcement shaper Bill Owens, the caller “CBS Evening News” has aimed to bash longer segments alternatively of the headline-driven benignant the broadcasts are known for.

Although broadcast networks person mostly ceded scripted TV shows to streaming, they are inactive protective of the quality programs. Both NBC and CBS are trying to amended their competitory presumption against “ABC World News With David Muir,” which has its largest pb implicit the second-place peacock web successful 30 years.

Like different TV newscasts, evening programs are successful a conflict to support relevance amid contention from not lone cablegram and streaming but besides YouTube, which attracts older audiences arsenic good arsenic younger, digital-savvy viewers.

“No 1 wants a tombstone that reads ‘Here lies the feline who killed the evening news,’” said Jonathan Wald, a seasoned shaper who worked with Brokaw connected “NBC Nightly News.”

Evening newscasts connected ABC, CBS and NBC — each of which launched successful the precocious 1940s — are among the fewer shows that inactive thrust assignment viewing.

They’ve held up amended than astir TV web genres. Nielsen information amusement the programs are watched by an mean of 18 cardinal viewers a nighttime and scope 71 cardinal each period contempt contention from 24-hour cablegram quality and a barrage of platforms disposable digitally.

There are galore weeks passim the twelvemonth erstwhile Muir’s broadcast is the astir watched programme successful each of TV, often averaging 8 cardinal viewers.

So far, the assemblage isn’t buying the changes connected “CBS Evening News.” The programme has dropped beneath 4 cardinal viewers successful immoderate weeks since its motorboat and occasionally gets topped by “Special Report With Bret Baier” connected Fox News.

NBC News executives judge Llamas tin supply a caller spark for “Nightly News.” They’re encouraged that helium led successful the 25-to-54 property radical connected caller nights erstwhile helium filled successful for Holt.

“We deliberation he’s precisely the close feline astatine this moment,” said Janelle Rodriguez, enforcement vice president of programming for NBC News. “He is idiosyncratic who has worked astatine this virtually since helium was a kid.”

But determination is ever hazard progressive erstwhile an anchor alteration occurs — programs typically spot a displacement of 500,000 viewers successful the aftermath. A azygous assemblage stock constituent diminution successful the Nielsen ratings tin mean astir $10 cardinal little successful advertisement revenue.

NBC’s Tom Llamas successful Rome covering the decease of Pope Francis successful 2025.

(NBC News)

Evening quality broadcasts are inactive profitable businesses and person benefited from accrued advertiser request for audiences watching unrecorded TV. In 2024, advertisement spending connected the 3 web evening newscasts, including the play editions, deed $669 million, according to measurement steadfast iSpot.tv, an summation of 12% implicit the erstwhile year.

The programs besides inactive supply an individuality for ABC, CBS and NBC. A caller survey by probe steadfast Magid recovered that 50% of consumers mention quality arsenic their apical crushed for watching a web TV affiliate.

Most of the radical tuning successful astatine 6:30 p.m. to ticker are older viewers who apt grew up with the habit, arsenic evidenced by the commercialized breaks. The information from iSpot amusement astir 46% of the advertisement dollars spent connected the programs are for pharmaceutical products.

Competitors person agelong taken shots astatine “World News,” calling it a shallow broadcast that delivers a batch of of stories without overmuch detail. ABC News executives antagonistic that Muir has traveled astir the satellite to bash lengthier reports that are expanded into documentaries for Hulu.

“We walk a batch of clip making definite the amusement is informative visually and reflects a modern, elegant broadcast,” said Chris Dinan, Muir’s enforcement producer. “David knows television. He’s a pupil of it.”

Viewers, who similar Muir and the ocular sizzle of “World News,” person made it No. 1 for 9 consecutive years.

“You can’t perceive to the chattering classes,” said Wald. “The amusement is watchable and consistent. You cognize what you’re going to get.”

Muir’s occurrence has been rewarded. After sharing peculiar sum anchor duties with George Stephanopoulos, helium is present the ascendant look of ABC News. Muir’s erstwhile longtime enforcement producer, Almin Karamehmedovic, became president of the part past year.

For astir of his tenure, Muir has maintained a neutral representation that protected him from right-wing claims of bias made against galore mainstream journalists.

That changed past autumn arsenic Muir and workfellow Linsey Davis became targets aft they vigorously fact-checked President Trump astatine the 2nd statesmanlike statement successful September. “I’m not fans of those guys anymore,” Trump said during a Fox News appearance. “And his hairsbreadth was amended 5 years ago.”

Trump’s choler astatine Muir has had nary interaction connected the ratings for “World News,” which person remained steady. Nielsen information amusement the program’s assemblage is down lone 1% successful the 2024-25 TV play compared to a twelvemonth ago, portion “NBC Nightly News” is disconnected 6% and “CBS Evening News” is down 8%.

While Holt’s departure from “Nightly News” was presented arsenic his decision, NBC News is historically unsentimental erstwhile it comes to making endowment transitions, ever looking for the adjacent generation.

Llamas, 45, has spent 3 years astatine the helm of “Top Story” connected NBC News Now, the network’s 24-hour streaming quality work that draws a younger assemblage than the broadcast network.

Like Muir, Llamas has been immersed successful TV quality since helium was a teenager.

Muir worked successful a section Syracuse TV newsroom wherever staffers tracked his maturation spurt with pencil marks connected a wall. A 15-year-old Llamas landed an internship astatine a Miami TV presumption with the assistance of Jorge Ramos, the longtime Univision anchor. (Ramos’ children were patients of Llamas’ father, who has a dental signifier successful Miami.)

Llamas interned astatine “NBC Nightly News” and went connected to jobs astatine MSNBC and arsenic a section anchor astatine NBC’s Miami and New York stations. He moved to ABC News successful 2014, wherever helium was anchor of the play newscast and often filled successful for Muir. He returned to NBC successful 2021, starring to contiguous speculation that helium was being developed arsenic Holt’s heir apparent.

“He’ll beryllium a large steward for what ‘Nightly’ is present and possibly adjacent widen its lifespan by injecting immoderate youth,” said Wald.

The question astatine CBS News — which has been distracted by a suit filed by Trump against “60 Minutes” and the pending merchantability of genitor institution Paramount Global to Skydance Media — is whether it volition marque tweaks to its evening quality format earlier viewers commencement sampling again aft Holt departs.

“CBS Evening News” co-anchors Maurice DuBois, left, and John Dickerson.

(Gail Schulman / CBS News)

CBS News declined to supply an enforcement to talk connected the grounds astir the newscast. But 2 radical adjacent to the amusement said absorption continues to enactment the alternate attack to the broadcast and determination are nary imminent changes.

People who enactment connected “CBS Evening News” but were not authorized to remark publically said the programme has already moved to shorter pieces. The producers are besides expected to get immoderate notes from Tom Cibrowski, the caller CBS News president who comes from ABC News, wherever determination is an accent connected being viewer-friendly.

But the challenges faced by CBS show however hard it is to marque changes to evening quality erstwhile continuity and familiarity substance to the audience.

Muir was a longtime play anchor and past superior substitute for Diane Sawyer during her five-year tally connected “World News.” Holt was a fill-in for Brian Williams earlier his abrupt departure successful 2015.

CBS has apt been wounded by changing evening quality anchors six times since Dan Rather ended his 20-year tally astatine the table successful 2005. The programme has agelong suffered from a anemic assemblage lead-in from its section stations, a occupation that goes backmost to the mid-1990s, erstwhile a fig of its affiliates switched to Fox aft CBS mislaid its NFL package.

But broadcast networks are alert that the downward inclination successful assignment viewing connected accepted TV is ne'er going to reverse. It’s wherefore the networks person expanded their evening quality programs online.

Llamas volition proceed to bash “Top Story” connected NBC News Now aft helium takes implicit for Holt successful June. Dickerson has done an further half-hour, which includes a longer newsmaker interrogation and a little commentary astatine the end, connected “CBS Evening News Plus,” which is shown connected CBS News Streaming aft the web broadcast.

All of the evening newscasts watercourse afloat episodes connected YouTube, each attracting respective 100 1000 viewers a night, arsenic good arsenic getting repetition airings connected the 24-hour streaming quality channels. “NBC Nightly News” clips reached 43 cardinal connected TikTok successful the archetypal 4th of 2025.

“As radical determination crossed antithetic organisation points, we request to beryllium acceptable for them,” Rodriguez said.