BEHIND THE CURVE

MAGA-Coded CBS Anchor Trails Behind Competition in Ratings Struggle

Tony Dokoupil is stuck in the slow lane.

CBS’s MAGA-coded anchor Tony Dokoupil is making little headway in closing the gap on his rivals at NBC and ABC.

Dokoupil, 45, has struggled to reverse a ratings train wreck in the anchor chair at CBS Evening News, a post he landed after anti-woke opinion columnist Bari Weiss was installed as the boss of CBS News last year.

While the latest viewership data shows Dokoupil finally breaking through the four million-viewer benchmark, his competitors at NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight are staying firmly out of reach.

CBS Evening News drew an average of 4.01 million viewers nightly from May 18 through May 21, according to Nielsen data obtained by the Daily Beast.

Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News, anchored by Tom Llamas, drew an audience of 6.09 million over that period. ABC World News Tonight, anchored by David Muir, topped the field with 8.18 million average viewers.

That leaves Dokoupil’s show trailing Llamas’ NBC Nightly News by 2.08 million viewers, and Muir’s ABC World News Tonight by 4.17 million viewers.

Play Video

In the all-important 25–54 demographic prized by advertisers, CBS Evening News averaged 605,000 viewers, up from 482,000 viewers the week prior, according to Variety.

The viewership averages are improvements over the week prior for all three evening newscasts, when CBS Evening News averaged 3.81 million viewers, NBC Nightly News drew 5.97 million, and ABC World News Tonight came in first with 7.89 million.

The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS for comment.

A source familiar with the network said the ratings present the fourth consecutive week of growth for CBS Evening News compared to last year. The person also said the broadcast saw more week-to-week growth than either NBC or ABC in viewers and the 25–54 demographic, and that the show is up year-over-year in both categories.

But before surpassing the four-million-viewer average this week, Dokoupil spent six consecutive weeks below that benchmark. The week beginning April 20 saw just 3.7 million viewers tuning in, CBS Evening News’ lowest-rated week since Dokoupil took over the anchor’s chair in January.

Dokoupil’s broadcasts have been seen as emblematic of CBS News’s apparent transformation into a Trump-friendly network under Weiss, who was recruited by Trumpy Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.

The anchor has been ridiculed for sounding at times more like a White House surrogate than an objective news anchor, from quoting a false claim made by Trump as fact to his both-sides coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection to his flattery of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Play Video

Meanwhile, staffing changes at CBS Evening News have included the firing of a senior producer and a handful of other employees taking buyouts.

However, the struggling ratings have not shaken Ellison and his father Larry Ellison’s steadfast backing of Weiss.

“She’s not going anywhere. The Ellisons like her very much and she’s safe,” a source told Page Six on Tuesday.

WATCH THIS

Colbert Exit Ratings Deliver Final Twist for CBS

Owen Mason-Hill

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Erkki ForsterNight News Reporter

Annabella RosciglioneReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.