DISASTER

CBS MAGA-Coded Anchor Suffers Another Ratings Mess

ABC News and NBC News once again trounced CBS News in the primetime ratings.

CBS’s MAGA-coded anchor Tony Dokoupil is again at the bottom of the pack in the primetime broadcast news rankings.

Dokoupil, who was tapped by MAGA-curious CBS boss Bari Weiss to revamp the network’s signature news program as she makes it more Trump-friendly, has been hit with a fresh ratings blow, according to Nielsen data obtained by the Daily Beast.

Ratings for the week of August 17 show that Dokoupil brought in an average of just 3.96 million viewers, and just 458,000 average viewers in the key demo of 25- 54-year-olds, which TV advertisers closely watch.

The ratings from last week are far lower than those of the network’s competitors, ABC World News Tonight, which averaged 8.46 million total viewers and 1.06 million in the key demo, and NBC Nightly News, which saw an average of 6.63 million total viewers and 1.03 million in the key demo.

The Daily Beast reached out to CBS News for comment.

Controversy has swirled around CBS News since Weiss, who had no professional experience in TV news before assuming her new role, took over the network late last year.

She was installed after Paramount Skydance purchased her “anti-woke” news and opinion blog, The Free Press, for $150 million; David Ellison, a son of billionaire Trump donor Larry Ellison, is the CEO.

Weiss, 42, has tried to make the network more Trump-friendly, but buyouts, layoffs, and criticism have marked the network’s rightward lurch.

Dokoupil, 45, has had a rough go of it in the anchor chair since taking over the storied program in January.

Ratings have been consistently down throughout his time leading the program, as ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News have been neck and neck with each other in the ratings for the top evening news program.

As if the ratings debacle weren’t bad enough, he has reportedly irked his own colleagues even before his troublesome first broadcast by complaining about “legacy media” having often “missed the story.”

Staffers took issue with Dokoupil’s brief, both-sides treatment of the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well as his flattery of Secretary of State Marco Rubio — both of which occurred on just his second day.

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More recently, Dokoupil failed to get his Chinese visa in time to cover President Donald Trump’s big meeting with Xi Jinping in May.

He was forced to broadcast from Taiwan, which turned into another chaotic broadcast when a cameraman suffered a medical emergency behind the scenes.

“We’re gonna take a quick break; we have an—a medical emergency here. We’re calling a doctor,” Dokoupil said, later confirming online that the cameraman was OK.

In addition to CBS Evening News seeing poor ratings under Dokoupil, CBS Mornings has also struggled; just last month, it saw its smallest weekly viewership in the program’s history.

Her tenure leading 60 Minutes has been particularly tumultuous, as over half of the correspondents from the newsmagazine’s last season will not return next season.

Those leaving include correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, both of whom were fired; Scott Pelley, who was also fired after voicing concerns about the direction of the program under Weiss; and Anderson Cooper, who left on his own accord.

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Annabella RosciglioneReporter

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