CBS Evening News

[wabceyewitness 855]

It boggles my mind why people — especially local anchors — continue accepting anchor jobs at CBS Evening News or CBS Mornings. I’m sure the pay bump and higher profile is nice but there’s zero stability on those shows.. unless you’re Gayle King. 

[MediaZone4K 2664]

3 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

It boggles my mind why people — especially local anchors — continue accepting anchor jobs at CBS Evening News or CBS Mornings. I’m sure the pay bump and higher profile is nice but there’s zero stability on those shows.. unless you’re Gayle King. 

Exactly my thoughts when Maurice got this job. That's why I supported the initial idea of him retaining the 11 PM anchor spot and staying on CBSEN.

 

He had a stable gig as the 5/11pm anchor on an O&O in market 1 and regularly did reports and anchoring for the network versus becoming cohost of a notoriously unstable broadcast.

[FiveNews 482]

Schedule wouldn't be advantageous. Most local PM anchors work 230-1145pm. Network anchors are in the building mid-late morning thru 7:30pm. Plus all of the travel that Maurice would endure when a big story broke would confuse viewers at 11pm.

Edited August 17, 2025 by FiveNews

[Horizon 300]

There might be a bit of clarification towards the earlier reporting, from Variety.

 

"A person familiar with the matter suggests viewers will in weeks to come see a more frequent reliance on one of the anchors — John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois lead the program — being out on the road at major, breaking events...."

 

"...Making use of both anchors in such fashion would put an authoritative person in the field and the studio, this person suggested, while giving the newscast the ability to deliver breaking news at the top of the broadcast."

 

"The original concept behind this “Evening News” iteration was to emphasize more feature and enterprise reporting..."

 

"...And yet, critics complained that the show was at times giving short shrift to breaking headlines."

 

"The format tweak could potentially give “Evening News” a shot of the latest headlines while still leaving some room for the distinct elements it brings to the mix."

[24994J 5888]

2 hours ago, Horizon said:

"A person familiar with the matter suggests viewers will in weeks to come see a more frequent reliance on one of the anchors — John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois lead the program — being out on the road at major, breaking events...."

 

"...Making use of both anchors in such fashion would put an authoritative person in the field and the studio, this person suggested, while giving the newscast the ability to deliver breaking news at the top of the broadcast."

 

This is essentially what ABC was planning to do with Woodruff & Vargas 20 years ago. Rarely were they supposed to be in-studio together, but instead have one on assignment much of the time.

[wabceyewitness 855]

1 hour ago, 24994J said:

 

This is essentially what ABC was planning to do with Woodruff & Vargas 20 years ago. Rarely were they supposed to be in-studio together, but instead have one on assignment much of the time.

and ratings fell once that experiment started 

[atlnewsfan03 93]

19 hours ago, MediaZone4K said:

Exactly my thoughts when Maurice got this job. That's why I supported the initial idea of him retaining the 11 PM anchor spot and staying on CBSEN.

 

He had a stable gig as the 5/11pm anchor on an O&O in market 1 and regularly did reports and anchoring for the network versus becoming cohost of a notoriously unstable broadcast.

We've seen it with another WCBS-TV anchor, Chris Wragge.  He did that one-year stint on the former CBS Early Show that CBS could never get out of last place and NBC Today and ABC Good Morning America mopping the floor with CBS.  CBS switch back to CBS This Morning, and reassigned Wragge to WCBS-TV 6PM news and then later reassigned him to Morning (and Noon) news.

Erica Hill was a short-lived holdover from CBSES till she exited CBS some 8 or 9 months later to move to NBC, and Norah O'Donnell replacing her on CBSTM.

Jeff Glor, another CBS employee who appeared to us to be loyal to that TV news organization, and him being reassigned numerous times, including his short-lived run as CBS Evening News anchor (2017-19), and CBS reassigned him to CBS Saturday Morning, and he was laid-off last year.  Part of me can't fathom Glor giving the CBS management the benefit of the doubt after the way they treated him in not giving him time to prove himself to the CBSEN audience.

A thing I'd point out about CBS management is they must really love having an apparent "dysfunctional" work environment, and the management also being dysfunctional, combined with their lack of patience, and being "status quo" oriented.  SMH in disbelief.

Edited August 18, 2025 by atlnewsfan03
Add an extra detail or two, and correct a spelling error.

[TVNewsLover 861]

5 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

and ratings fell once that experiment started 

Is it the ratings fell or Woodruff was immediately injured on assignment and then the ratings fell 

[wabceyewitness 855]

6 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

Is it the ratings fell or Woodruff was immediately injured on assignment and then the ratings fell 

No, the ratings fell during the premier week, typically a time when viewers would tune in make out of interest. After Woodruff’s injury, they dipped even further when Vargas became the de facto solo anchor. They fell to third place behind CBS just as the advertising upfronts season was beginning which forced ABC to give Charlie Gibson what he wanted from the start — the solo anchor job through the 2008 election and into the first year of the new presidency. He was originally offered the spot but told he would need to give up the anchor chair once the 2008 primary season began to let the younger team takeover. He balked and originally planned to stick to retiring in 2007. 

[HanSolo 469]

15 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

and ratings fell once that experiment started 

Gee, the changeover from Jennings couldn’t possibly have been a longer-term factor.

[MediaZone4K 2664]

10 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

No, the ratings fell during the premier week, typically a time when viewers would tune in make out of interest. After Woodruff’s injury, they dipped even further when Vargas became the de facto solo anchor. They fell to third place behind CBS just as the advertising upfronts season was beginning which forced ABC to give Charlie Gibson what he wanted from the start — the solo anchor job through the 2008 election and into the first year of the new presidency. He was originally offered the spot but told he would need to give up the anchor chair once the 2008 primary season began to let the younger team takeover. He balked and originally planned to stick to retiring in 2007. 

The format was a rough transition from the single voice of God anchor format that viewers became accustomed to with Jennings. Ted Koppel would have been perfect for the job had he not retired. 

 

But back to CBS...

[HanSolo 469]

It also never got a chance to fly, so to speak. One anchor suffers a catastrophic injury, the other has personal issues of her own emerge. Not faulting ABC for swinging back to Charlie, but there was relatively (in viewer habit terms) little time to prove the concept.

[TheNewsTV 342]

It seems that the CBS Evening News is slowly returning to its previous format...
The headlines are back at the beginning of the newscast.

 

 

 

[Rusty Muck 4688]

12 hours ago, TheNewsTV said:

It seems that the CBS Evening News is slowly returning to its previous format...
The headlines are back at the beginning of the newscast.

 

 

 

Can't wait to see the headlines about how the Evening News is once again losing viewers with the new (old) format lol

[Jase 1164]

Paramount Picks Kenneth R. Weinstein, Former Head Of Right-Leaning Think Tank, As Ombudsman For CBS News

 

 

‘Weinstein has no experience in working in the day-to-day operations of a news organization. It’s unclear what the repercussions will be if, say, Cibrowski (President/Executive Editor - CBS News) disagrees with the ombudsman’s conclusions and declines to take actions.’

[Geoffrey 960]

I like the tease at the top and that it's quick. NBC and especially ABC seem like they go on forever.

[Reweivvt88 173]

'What the F—?': CBS News Staffers Melt Down Over New Boss Bari Weiss

 

The article also mentions that CBS News is losing about $50 million dollars a year. 

 

CBS News has been far from perfect, I mean they employed far right "journalists" like Lara Logan & Sharyl Attkisson and decided to hire someone from FOX News as their president from 2011 - 2019, but with a far right MAGA editor in chief AND a far right ombudsman, they are not even trying to pretend to be objective. I honestly don't understand the point of keeping CBS News going anymore. It's not a public service if they are just going to push out propaganda. How can anyone trust anything they see reported on CBS News with these people in charge? CBS Evening News is already in a distant last place and losing more viewers year to date than the other network newscasts, they are only going to lose more viewers going full on MAGA. At the same time, they are never going to get the FNC viewers to switch over, and with the amount of cost cutting they are doing the Newsmax viewers are probably better off sticking with Newsmax. If the news org is losing 50 million a year, what's the point of keeping it going? I'm sure CBS stations in blue states are just thrilled that the half hour network newscast that brings in half the audience of ABC World News Tonight now has a far right editor in chief and far right ombudsman. 

 

As bad as it would look for Paramount to shut CBS News down, it looks equally as bad turning it into a right wing propaganda outlet, and at least shutting it down eliminates $50 million dollars in losses and allows the network to counter program against ABC & NBC. 

[atlnews2 631]

I’d take anything from the free beacon with a massive grain of salt 

[Reweivvt88 173]

36 minutes ago, atlnews2 said:

I’d take anything from the free beacon with a massive grain of salt 

 

Sadly, now the same could be said for anything from CBS News.

 

That being said, there wasn't much original reporting in this free beacon article, I used it because it put together reports from several media outlets (Puck, The Guardian, Zeteo). I'm not sure what's not credible in the article. It's a fact that CBS News now has a right wing editor in chief and ombudsman. Puck reported about the losses at CBS News, which are not surprising given the costs of running a news operation and the ratings performance of most CBS News programming. 

Edited October 9, 2025 by Reweivvt88

[TVLurker 389]

9 hours ago, Reweivvt88 said:

That being said, there wasn't much original reporting in this free beacon article, I used it because it put together reports from several media outlets (Puck, The Guardian, Zeteo). I'm not sure what's not credible in the article. It's a fact that CBS News now has a right wing editor in chief and ombudsman. Puck reported about the losses at CBS News, which are not surprising given the costs of running a news operation and the ratings performance of most CBS News programming. 

 

While I don't like where CBS News is going. There isn't much of an audience for bipartisan journalism anymore.

 

CNN tried this approach a few years ago and they ended up having to go with a more partisan take on journalism.

 

ABC and NBC are also becoming more partisan with their journalism as well.

 

I blame Fox News for taking partisan journalism and making it into a ratings success.

 

There was nothing that can be done to change the taste of Americans back towards bipartisan journalism, they voted with their eyeballs and the result is journalism that pales in comparison to the Walter Cronkite era.

[GodfreyGR 812]

4 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

I blame Fox News for taking partisan journalism and making it into a ratings success.

I get that Fox News is the low hanging fruit here, but it is so much more than them... Look at and blame the algorithms on Facebook, X, TikTok, etc., that curate headlines and suggestions for everyone based on what they interact with, and give a much broader scope of bias and lower standard for quality in reporting than any broadcast or cable outlet.

 

This will continue to spiral as broadcast and cable outlets are hemorrhaging younger viewers who are instead getting their news from social media (namely, TikTok).

[TVLurker 389]

1 minute ago, GodfreyGR said:

I get that Fox News is the low hanging fruit here, but it is so much more than them... Look at and blame the algorithms on Facebook, X, TikTok, etc., that curate headlines and suggestions for everyone based on what they interact with, and give a much broader scope of bias and lower standard for quality in reporting than any broadcast or cable outlet.

 

This will continue to spiral as broadcast and cable outlets are hemorrhaging younger viewers who are instead getting their news from social media (namely, TikTok).

 

I concur to social media being the problem. Especially when we have social media owners manipulating the algorithm to prefer their own political views in addition to the LA Times and the Washington Post also being guilty of said manipulation.

 

Also the hypocrisy is, apologies for my language, bullshit. They made a big deal about Joe/Kamala's flaws and yet gave Trump a free pass despite his health and policy issues. They didn't care about the American people, they just wanted money in their pockets.

[GodfreyGR 812]

12 minutes ago, TVLurker said:

Also the hypocrisy is, apologies for my language, bullshit. They made a big deal about Joe/Kamala's flaws and yet gave Trump a free pass despite his health and policy issues. They didn't care about the American people, they just wanted money in their pockets.

Are you surprised? It is no different than getting your product on an endcap at Walmart or Target... Everything's location in a retail store is carefully planned, and usually negotiated. Pay the company more money, get better positioning on the shelf. Is it fair, right, just? Of course not. But alas one of the benchmarks of capitalism

[ATLNewsExpert 508]

53 minutes ago, GodfreyGR said:

I get that Fox News is the low hanging fruit here, but it is so much more than them... Look at and blame the algorithms on Facebook, X, TikTok, etc., that curate headlines and suggestions for everyone based on what they interact with, and give a much broader scope of bias and lower standard for quality in reporting than any broadcast or cable outlet.

 

This will continue to spiral as broadcast and cable outlets are hemorrhaging younger viewers who are instead getting their news from social media (namely, TikTok).

And, not to go off topic, but especially local outlet's sorry attempts. "Hey fellow kids! This show is about what's on social media, you like that, right?" Yet a lot of graphics or montages still have Google+....

[Reweivvt88 173]

1 hour ago, TVLurker said:

 

While I don't like where CBS News is going. There isn't much of an audience for bipartisan journalism anymore.

 

CNN tried this approach a few years ago and they ended up having to go with a more partisan take on journalism.

 

ABC and NBC are also becoming more partisan with their journalism as well.

 

I blame Fox News for taking partisan journalism and making it into a ratings success.

 

There was nothing that can be done to change the taste of Americans back towards bipartisan journalism, they voted with their eyeballs and the result is journalism that pales in comparison to the Walter Cronkite era.

While I agree most Americans don't want bipartisan journalism, CBS News isn't going far right because it's a good business strategy for CBS News, they are being forced to go far right because it's a good business decision for Paramount despite harming CBS News. They want to buy Warner Brothers Discovery and need Government approval. Look how rare it is for FNC programming to appear on the FOX network, it's not a good business decision for the FOX network or the FOX stations in markets like LA, NY, Chicago, etc. to air right wing news.  Paramount is willing to destroy CBS News and turn it into right wing propaganda to stay in the good graces of a far right dictator. This is not CBS News trying to challenge FNC & Newsmax for the MAGA audience, it's Paramount turning CBS News into a right wing propaganda outlet knowing the result will be even further ratings declines for all CBS News programming.