CBS News chief Wendy McMahon is making her mark on “CBS Mornings,” just weeks after Norah O’Donnell abruptly left the network’s “Evening News” show, The Washington Post has learned.
The No. 3 morning show, co-hosted by Gayle King, Tony Dokopil and Nate Burleson, will launch a third hour in select markets and on the CBS News 24/7 streaming channel late next month in a new attempt to take on No. 1 and No. 2 rivals ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today.”
According to sources, Dokoupil and “CBS Weekend” host Adriana Diaz will be the new co-hosts of the third hour, which will air live from the “CBS Mornings” studios in Times Square weekdays from 9 to 10 a.m. ET.
Dokoupil will continue in his role as anchor of “CBS Mornings,” sources said.
The new show is expected to air in some CBS territories, including Los Angeles and Chicago, but not in New York, sources said.
CBS declined to comment.
According to a memo obtained by The Washington Post, “CBS Mornings” executive producer Shauna Thomas told staff on Friday that she and her team will be producing the third hour amid much speculation.
“One of the worst kept secrets at CBS News is true: I and several colleagues are working on developing a third hour of ‘CBS Morning,’ which we believe will premiere in late September. This is being developed for several of our owned stations as well as CBS News 24/7,” she wrote.
Thomas said the show “will not have the exact same look or feel as the first two hours” and will have different cast members and a different name, “but it will still be the smart, engaging content we’ve come to expect from the CBS Mornings family.”
Thomas said the show is looking to hire a producer even as CBS parent Paramount Global is cutting its budget by $500 million ahead of its merger with Skydance Media next year.
According to sources, he joined the hosting duties three hours late. Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
The move comes as CBS News CEO McMahon is pushing to grow viewership on TV and streaming for the struggling news division.
McMahon recently revamped the bottom-ranked “CBS Evening News,” replacing anchor Norah O’Donnell with CBS correspondent John Dickerson and WCBS anchor Maurice DuBois under “60 Minutes” chief Bill Owens, who plans to overhaul the show’s format to include more in-depth reporting.
But unlike the “Evening News,” “CBS Mornings” has seen its ratings grow. ABC’s “GMA” fills gap in coveted 25-54 age group for advertising especially.
I’ll be the new co-host for the third hour. Adriana Diaz/Instagram
“This is a smart move and a natural evolution of our growing brand,” a CBS source said. “‘CBS Mornings’ continues to grow and build on the momentum and advantage of ‘GMA’ this season.”
In the second quarter of this year, “CBS Mornings” trailed “GMA” in viewership by just 68,000 viewers, though the show outperformed “GMA” among viewers ages 25 to 54 by 15 to 1, according to Nielsen.
For the quarter as a whole, CBS drew 2.1 million total viewers and 426,000 in the demo.
That was behind ABC’s “GMA,” which had 2.8 million total viewers and 494,000 in the demo.
NBC’s “Today” drew 2.7 million total viewers and 620,000 in the demo.
The competition for morning programming is heating up as ABC searches for a president of its news division to oversee popular shows such as “GMA” and “World News Tonight.”
The network fired embattled ABC News president Kim Godwin in May amid a series of missteps and declining ratings for its lucrative morning programming.
