'CBS Evening News' Ratings Could Cause Tony Dokoupil Trouble

Since earlier this year, viewers have seen a number of changes occur at CBS News, notably Tony Dokoupil taking over as anchor on CBS Evening News. Recently, there has been concern about ratings, especially regarding demographics and competition with similar programs. Since then, insiders have been weighing in on what could happen at the network.

Tony Dokoupil Took Over CBS Evening News From John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois

Dokoupil first joined CBS News as a New York-based correspondent around 2016. By 2019, he became a co-host on CBS Mornings, originally CBS This Morning.

In early January 2026, Dokoupil took over anchor duties for CBS Evening News. This followed the departure of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. This notably came out around various changes for the network after Bari Weiss was made CBS News’ editor-in-chief.

Tony Dokoupil - YouTube — Tony Dokoupil – YouTube

In early March, it was reported that Dokoupil drew in over 4 million total viewers for the week. However, only around 458,000 of them were in the 25–54 age demo, which advertisers wanted.

The broadcast was also said to be down 9% in total viewers, with a sharp 21% in the demo compared to the previous week. With a year-to-year comparison, the broadcast also endured a 7% drop in total viewers, with a 28% decline in the desired demo.

Dokoupil’s Debut Ratings Have Been Compared To Previous Anchors’ Premieres

In addition, Dokoupil’s debut has also seen a decline in numbers compared to other anchors on the program. Things were down 17% from Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson’s debut, 20% from Norah O’Donnell’s, and 67% from Katie Couric’s own 2006 premiere.

Dokoupil, as well as CBS News, has also faced more current competition from ABC News and NBC News. The CBS News program is currently believed to be behind ABC World News Tonight with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas.

Rob Shuter recently spoke with an insider about the situation on his “Naughty But Nice” Substack. At the time, it was shared, “The total audience is aging, and the demo erosion is what keeps executives up at night. You can’t build a future on shrinking younger numbers.”

Insiders had also shared similar concerns with Radar Online. As one noted, while looking at the changes the network has seen since Bari Weiss’ installation, they were “curious to see how much longer the Ellisons will tolerate this utter defenestration of CBS News before they step in.” This was in reference to Larry and David Ellison, who acquired Paramount Global through Skydance Media. As the outlet noted, it was David who hired Bari Weiss.

EXCLUSIVE: TONY DOKOUPIL IN TROUBLE? ‘CBS EVENING NEWS’ SLIDES IN VIEWERS AND DEMO by ROB SHUTER

WEEK-TO-WEEK AND YEAR-OVER-YEAR DECLINES RAISE RED FLAGS AT CBS

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