'CBS Evening News' hits ratings slump amid Tony Dokoupil takeover

CBS Evening News has seen a ratings decline after Tony Dokoupil became anchor, drawing 3.77 million viewers for the week of April 20—well below its rivals—though CBS claims a modest 2 % audience increase since his arrival.

Even with a new anchor at the helm, "CBS Evening News" appears to be treading water among audiences.

The Emmy-nominated network newscast, which received a revamp earlier this year with the selection of host Tony Dokoupil, has hit a ratings slump, according to a new report from Adweek.

The broadcast show brought in 3.771 million total viewers for the week of April 20, per the outlet, which cites a combination of national live and same-day big data plus program ratings from Nielsen. The ratings low marks the third consecutive week that "CBS Evening News" earned less than 4 million viewers.

In comparison, CBS' network news counterparts, "ABC World News Tonight" and "NBC Nightly News," averaged 8.537 million and 6.168 million viewers, respectively, for the same time period.

Additionally, the Dokoupil-led news program reached 467,000 viewers in the 25-54 age bracket, which Adweek noted is a "prized" demographic among television audiences. The less-than-stellar figure solidifies a three-week streak in which "Evening News" remained below 500,000 viewers for the demographic group.

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A source at CBS pushed back on the characterization, noting that under Dokoupil, the newscast has grown 2% in viewership and was the only show among its competitors to grow month-to-month from March to April of this year.

"This was always going to take time," the CBS source said. "The previous show that Tony inherited was in a very bad spot at the end of last year. Building audience is a grind, and we're encouraged the [year-over-year] numbers are up."

Tony Dokoupil: 'CBS Evening News' chooses 'CBS Mornings' host as new anchor

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Dokoupil, who'd been cohosting "CBS Mornings" alongside Gayle King and Nate Burleson since 2019, was named the host of "CBS Evening News" in December. His tenure, which followed the 2024 departure of anchor Norah O'Donnell, began Jan. 3.

"We live in a time in which many people have lost trust in the media. Tony Dokoupil is the person to win it back," CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss said in a statement at the time of Dokoupil's hosting announcement.

"He believes in old-school journalistic values: asking the hard questions, following the facts wherever they lead and holding power to account," Weiss continued. "Americans hungry for fairness will see that on display night after night."

More Tony Dokoupil news: TV anchor admits 'big problems' in 'CBS Evening News' debut

The Daytime Emmy-winning journalist notably ran into some hiccups during his first few days, including one newscast in which he seemingly mixed up CBS News Minnesota journalist Jonah Kaplan and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's names, as well as referring to Minnesota as the Great Lake State (which is the official nickname for Michigan).

Dokoupil joined CBS News in 2016 and has anchored several major news events during his decadelong stint, such as the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel, the papal conclave in Rome and the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, DC. He's also interviewed A-list stars including Dolly Parton, Harry Styles, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Stiller.