Average viewership for Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News dropped under four million last week, trailing well behind rival networks.
The MAGA-coded anchor’s nightly show is the result of an effort by Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and David Ellison, the head of parent company Paramount Skydance, to widen the network’s appeal to conservative audiences. Whether that goal is being met remains to be seen, but what new Nielsen data shows is that the network could benefit from any additional viewers.
Last week, the average viewership was nearly 3.83 million, Variety reported, citing the ratings calculator. In the all-important 25 to 54 demographic, the show attracted 468,000 viewers.
But both sets of numbers fall short of other networks’ audiences over the same period.
ABC’s World News Tonight, for instance, garnered nearly 8.48 million, Nielsen reported, with 1.03 million in the key demographic. NBC Nightly News brought in 6.51 million, and 946,000 between 25 and 54.
Data for CBS’s Friday broadcast of its news show wasn’t included because the network opted to retitle it.
The Daily Beast has contacted CBS for comment.
CBS executives, a person familiar with the matter told the Daily Beast, cited the recent change to Daylight Saving Time as one explanation for the dip. As a sign of good news, they have pointed to a rise of 7 percent in overall viewership—and 10 percent between ages 25 and 54—compared to the 2025-26 season-to-date average. Views of CBS Evening News stories on the network’s website are also up year-to-year, as are minutes viewed on YouTube.
Still, the network’s evening newscast is behind its rocky debut week in early January, when it averaged nearly 4.17 million viewers.
Dokoupil, the former Daily Beast reporter, had promised to be “more accountable and more transparent” than Walter Cronkite. The jury’s still out, especially after he gave a “salute” to “ultimate Florida man” Marco Rubio on just his second day in the new role.
That same night, Dokoupil gave a meek treatment of the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. That coverage reportedly contributed to the exit of top CBS Justice Department correspondent Scott MacFarlane.
Others leaving the network in the Ellison-Weiss era include 60 Minutes correspondent Anderson Cooper, who also was reportedly offput by the network’s right-wing direction. Several CBS Evening News staffers have taken buyouts ahead of layoffs that have been rumored for some time in the spring.
After Weiss, the anti-woke opinion journalist, named Dokoupil to the anchor’s chair, he claimed that “legacy media” had mishandled stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop, Hillary Clinton’s emails, and “the president’s fitness for office.”
“On too many stories, the press has missed the story because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American,” the 45-year-old said. “Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.”
A few weeks later, Dokoupil would tour the skies in billionaire Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ helicopter.
Dokoupil, who is married to and has two children with MS NOW anchor Katy Tur, attended Miami’s prestigious $53,000-per-year Gulliver Preparatory School. After graduating first in his class at George Washington University, where he studied business, he enrolled in a PhD program at Columbia University.
