Bari Weiss’ First Town Hall as CBS News Chief Draws Low Ratings
Bari Weiss recently stepped in as CBS News editor-in-chief, and her debut town hall special featuring Erica Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, didn’t quite hit the mark in terms of viewership.
Airing Saturday at 8 p.m., the program attracted approximately 1.5 million viewers, according to early Nielsen ratings released on Tuesday. This represents a significant 20% decline compared to the year-to-date average for that time slot, which previously showcased the three-hour show “48 Hours.”
Viewership among the crucial 25- to 54-year-olds demographic dropped even more sharply, plummeting 44% to around 237,000, as stated by the network.
While final numbers from Nielsen indicated a rise to 1.9 million and 265,000 viewers in the important demographic, the overall decline in viewership for the special remains a concern.
Since the beginning of the year, Erica Kirk’s regular segment has exhibited a 10% drop in total viewers and a whopping 41% decrease in key demographics compared to the network’s established programming in that time frame. Although CBS pointed out that the town hall exceeded their season’s performance in that Saturday time slot by 32% in total viewers and 19% in the demo, the context of ratings is, well, complicated.
Interestingly, Kirk’s prior appearance on Fox News attracted an average of 2 million viewers, and as a guest host on “The Five,” he garnered 3.3 million viewers during its airing on Tuesday.
City Hall marked Weiss’ inaugural CBS broadcast since she took the reins of the struggling news network back in October. It’s somewhat unusual for the head of a news organization to appear on their own network, especially in such a spotlighted capacity. The special took place amid ongoing breaking news coverage of the Brown University shooting.
David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, recruited Weiss with the intent to revamp CBS News, steering its left-leaning coverage towards a more balanced, centrist perspective. As part of her acquisition deal, Ellison also purchased her new venture, The Free Press, for $150 million.
Reports suggest that the special lacked mainstream corporate sponsors. During its runtime, advertising slots were primarily filled with direct-response ads for companies like Superbeat, a nutritional supplement, and Homeserve.com, a home repair service. However, CBS did manage to catch the interest of some conservative sponsors, which is a rarity for the network.
These sponsors included the Heritage Foundation and mobile apps geared towards Christian prayer, as well as Angel Studios’ new animated project focused on faith-based storytelling. A few mainstream advertisers, such as Spotify and TikTok, also secured ad spots.
In any case, Weiss’s initial outing has sparked quite a conversation, though not exactly the one she might have hoped for.
