TUNING OUT

MAGA-Coded CBS News Ratings Crater on Election Night

Bari Weiss’ news operation fared almost as badly as Republicans on Tuesday night.

CBS News drew far fewer viewers than each of its big six competitors on Election Night.

The Bari Weiss-led network’s primary primetime coverage was headed by former CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and the flagship show’s current anchor, Tony Dokoupil. The Tuesday night broadcast drew just 2.63 million viewers, according to CNN media analyst Brian Stelter, putting it in last place behind NBC’s 6.52 million, ABC’s 4.91 million, CNN’s 3.93 million, and MS NOW’s 3.92 million.

Even Fox News, which saw a 50 percent drop in Election Night primetime viewership after 2022, drew more eyeballs than CBS News with 3.88 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers.

The network’s coverage also featured Gayle King, Margaret Brennan, Robert Costa, Major Garrett, Nancy Cordes, Ed O’Keefe, Fin Gomez, and Anthony Salvanto.

The paltry numbers come after Trump-friendly billionaire David Ellison acquired CBS’ parent company Paramount last August, and installed Weiss, cofounder of the conservative outlet The Free Press, as its head of news.

Under Weiss, the network saw upheaval and internal tension that led to the exits of several of its biggest anchor stars. Much of that tension stemmed from Weiss’ changes to 60 Minutes—the ratings of which Trump used to soothe himself as the Democrats flipped Republican-held Senate seats in Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

He wrote in a post to Truth Social on Wednesday, “The 60 Minutes interview of Donald J. Trump, on CBS, Sunday night, was the highest-rated 60 Minutes IN YEARS!” Still, viewers largely tuned the network out as the results rolled in on Tuesday.

Interest in CBS News was also minimal on YouTube, as its live stream came in last among its counterparts, with just 6.4 million tuning in, according to analyst Steven Wilson-Beales. CNN’s streaming coverage drew 23.5 million and MS Now’s feed had 22 million by comparison.

Overall, more people watched Election Night coverage than during previous midterm elections, with Stelter reporting that the 26 million viewership total was “higher than the 2022 midterm night’s total of 22 million across all six networks.”

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Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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