Cbs Evening News Ratings Drop Below 4m For First Time With Tony Dokoupil As Anchor After Bari Weiss Overhaul

Ratings for CBS Evening News have dropped beneath 4 cardinal for nan first clip since big Tony Dokoupil took nan helm aft editor-in-chief Bari Weiss’ overhaul of nan network.

The revamp of nan nightly news programme kicked disconnected to a unsmooth start successful January. During his first regular broadcast, Dokoupil ran into immoderate method issues while switching betwixt segments.

One web staffer astatine nan clip told The Independent Dokoupil’s debut arsenic nan caller big of CBS Evening News, which included societal media clips of him asking random group astatine a train position to pronounce his past name, was “embarrassing.”

The first week of ratings for nan nightly news programme pinch Dokoupil successful nan anchor chair averaged astir 4.17 cardinal full viewers and 533,000 successful nan cardinal demographic of adults aged 25 to 54, according to Nielsen Media Research information cited successful respective outlets.

Despite nan 23 percent dip successful full viewership ratings from nan aforesaid play successful 2025, according to Deadline and Variety, CBS News touted it arsenic a victory, saying it was up 4 percent successful full viewership compared to nan remainder of nan season, which started successful September.

But now, ratings person slipped beneath 4 cardinal again. The show had a full viewership of astir 3.83 cardinal and 468,000 among 25 to 54 twelvemonth olds past week, Variety reported, citing Nielsen data.

Variety reports nan web scrapped nan CBS Evening News anchored by Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson aft nan programme shed assemblage and fell beneath 4 cardinal viewers connected galore weeknights.

Dokoupil’s ratings lagged down ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir, which had a full assemblage of astir 8.48 cardinal past week, and NBC’s Nightly News with Tom Llamas, which saw 6.51 cardinal full viewers, according to Nielsen.

Weiss, who founded nan alleged anti-woke media outlet The Free Press, took complete arsenic CBS News’ editor-in-chief past October.

Dokoupil replaced evening news co-anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson soon after, arsenic 1 of respective changes to nan web nether Weiss’ leadership.

One web staffer told The Independent Dokoupil had turned CBS Evening News into “state TV.”

President Donald Trump told Dokoupil connected nan programme that he “wouldn't person a occupation correct now” if erstwhile Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris won nan 2024 statesmanlike election.

Weiss besides sparked backlash for her determination to propulsion a 60 Minutes segment astir Venezuelan migrants sent from nan U.S. to CECOT, an El Salvadoran situation accused of having inhumane conditions. The conception ended up airing astir 1 period later.

In guidance to past week’s ratings drop, Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, wrote connected X, “If group want blimpish slant, they tin watch Fox aliases Newsmax. People don’t want broadcast news to slant 1 measurement aliases nan other. They conscionable want news.”