Tony Dokoupil is seeing an uptick in ratings for CBS Evening News, even though he faced some challenges in his debut as the new anchor this week, according to reports.
Promoted from co-anchor of “CBS Morning,” Dokoupil stepped into his new role on Monday, drawing in 4.5 million viewers, as noted by Nielsen. This marks an increase of 500,000 viewers compared to the average during the tenure of former co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice Dubois, who struggled with ratings for about a year.
In the key 25-54 demographic that advertisers target, Dokoupil gained 609,000 viewers. Some close to the situation attribute this boost to stories involving Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado and the appointment of Army Secretary Pete Hegseth to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The official indicated that Monday’s numbers represented an 11% increase in overall viewers and a 9% rise in the demo compared to last season’s averages.
Interestingly, there was a notable decline of over a million viewers under Dickerson and Dubois, whose time as co-anchors was marked by criticism for being “sluggish” and having “lack of chemistry.”
Despite these initial gains, Dokoupil’s beginning wasn’t without its own hiccups. He had a moment during the broadcast where he stumbled while transitioning to a segment about Venezuela, which caught viewers’ attention.
This marks Dokoupil’s first regular anchoring position, having been chosen for the role by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss last month. However, sources mentioned that new shows often experience a “shock” in their early days. Cautioning against premature celebrations, they reminded that curiosity-driven viewers may quickly switch back to their regular programs.
When Katie Couric joined as anchor for “Evening News,” she notably drew 14 million viewers for her debut in September 2006, a stark contrast to the current viewing landscape where streaming has overshadowed traditional news broadcasts.
Recently, Dickerson and Dubois started with an average of 5.2 million viewers when they debuted last January, but those figures dwindled to 4 million by the end of the year.
Even with Dokoupil’s Monday numbers, he still lagged behind front-runners like “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir” which attracted 8.1 million viewers, and “NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas,” which pulled in 7.2 million total viewers.
A CBS official speculated that ratings for Dokoupil’s show could fall below 4 million by the end of the week, suggesting he may not be accustomed to the pressure.
The source also pointed out a lapse during the Monday broadcast when Dokoupil was set to cover Governor Tim Walz but mistakenly showed an image of Senator Mark Kelly, leading to a somewhat awkward transition.
While there were fewer issues during his second broadcast, some critics pointed out Dokoupil’s somewhat casual comments regarding Secretary of State Marco Rubio, describing him as “the ultimate Floridian” while also reflecting on his own childhood in Florida.
Concluding his segment, Dokoupil humorously noted some whimsical AI-generated images of Rubio from social media, calling attention to the unusual portrayals. “Marco Rubio, we salute you,” he remarked, adding a light-hearted touch to the end of the segment.
As of now, ratings for Tuesday’s show are not available.
