CBS News’ flagship evening broadcast has fallen below the key 4 million–viewer mark for the first time since editor in chief Bari Weiss installed Tony Dokoupil as anchor.
“CBS Evening News” averaged about 3.83 million viewers for the week ending March 13, according to Nielsen figures cited by Variety, with roughly 468,000 audience members in the 25-to-54 demographic prized by advertisers.
Last year, CBS execs kicked John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois off the show when their ratings repeatedly slipped below the 4 million–viewer mark — a threshold long seen internally as a warning sign.
The latest numbers leave CBS well behind its broadcast rivals.
“ABC World News Tonight” led the pack with about 8.48 million total viewers over the same stretch — 1.03 million of them in the 25-to-54 demo.
“NBC Nightly News” comfortably outpaced CBS, too, drawing around 6.51 million total viewers, with 946,000 in the 25-to-54 demographic, Nielsen data show.
The program anchored by Tom Llamas has also narrowed the gap with ABC, topping “World News Tonight” in the key demographic during the weeks of Jan. 5, Feb. 9 and Feb. 16 — marking the closest competitive margin between the two broadcasts in six years, Nielsen data show.
CBS News insiders said their recent ratings dip was likely tied in part to the start of daylight saving time, Variety reported.
The network pointed to broader momentum since Dokoupil took the helm in January, with the program topping its season-to-date average in nine of its first 10 weeks and rising 7% in total viewers and 10% in adults 25 to 54 versus compared to earlier this season, per Nielsen figures.
Network insiders reportedly noted that CBS held onto more viewers than its rivals during a recent week of declines tied to shifting news events.
But CBS News’ digital footprint is also showing signs of erosion.
The network’s online audience slid 13% year over year in February to about 90 million unique visitors, according to Comscore — a figure that includes traffic from CBS-owned local stations — though it still narrowly clung to the top spot ahead of rivals including NBC News, CNN and Fox News.
Meanwhile, NBC News grew 8% over the same period to 87 million unique visitors, gaining ground on CBS and leapfrogging competitors including CNN and Fox News.
Fox News is a subsidiary of Fox Corp — the sister company to News Corp, which owns The Post.
Dokoupil’s time in the anchor seat got off to an awkward start. During his first regular broadcast, he tripped over a teleprompter pivot and left viewers with several seconds of dead air
The glitch was quickly corrected, but it nonetheless added to the scrutiny surrounding Dokoupil’s high-profile debut. A bizarre on-air crying episode also drew mockery and scorn.
Weiss’s arrival has sparked unrest inside CBS News, with “60 Minutes” staffers chaffing under her leadership and some employees taking buyouts ahead of expected layoffs.
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