Tony Dokoupil’s Evening News Debut Fails to Boost Ratings for CBS

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Tony Dokoupil’s much-publicized debut as the new anchor of CBS Evening News has not made much of a dent in the network ratings battle.

Dokoupil averaged 4.17 million viewers the week following his official Jan. 5 launch, according to Nielsen data obtained by Mediaite. (Dokoupil had jumped on the Evening News desk to host a special edition on Jan. 3, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.)

Here’s the good news for CBS: Dokoupil’s ratings were up slightly compared to the 4.05 million viewers that Evening News averaged last year. The bad news: Evening News was down big compared to the same week a year ago, when it averaged 5.22 million viewers, and also down compared to the 4.56 million the program averaged in the first quarter of 2025.

And things started to slide after his January 5 debut, when Evening News brought in some 4.37 million viewers.

A CBS source pushed back on comparing Dokoupil’s debut week to the same time in 2025, noting that was a period where ratings spiked for all three networks during coverage of the LA wildfires.

NBC, meanwhile, notched a ratings milestone it had not achieved in more than a half-decade. The Peacock network scored its first weekly win in the key 25-54 age demographic in nearly six years, with Tom Llamas and NBC Nightly News pulling in 992,000 viewers in the advertiser-coveted adults 25-54 demographic, compared to 989,000 for David Muir and ABC’s World News Tonight. That demo win comes after Llamas replaced veteran anchor Lester Holt midway through 2025, and built up some ratings momentum heading into the new year.

In the total ratings race, though, Muir remained the top dog by a strong margin, as NBC grabbed the silver, and CBS took the bronze — which has been the case for a while now.

Here’s how the three networks stacked up in Dokoupil’s first week:

• ABC’s World News Tonight: 8.08 million viewers, 989,000 in 25-54 demo
• NBC Nightly News: 6.73 million viewers, 992,000 in 25-54 demo
• CBS Evening News: 4.17 million viewers, 533,000 in 25-54 demo

Another interesting ratings note from Dokoupil’s first week: Special Report anchor Bret Baier on Fox News beat Evening News in the five biggest markets — Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia.

Dokoupil was selected by new CBS News boss Bari Weiss to jumpstart the network’s struggling news program. CBS promoted Dokoupil’s debut with a video where he slammed legacy media for whiffing on major stories, with the anchor saying “people don’t trust us like they used to.” Polling backs up that statement.

“The point is that on too many stories the press missed the story. Because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you,” Dokoupil said.

Dokoupil also shared the 5 core principles that would guide his version of Evening News, including “We respect you” and “We love America.” Some media pundits and observers scoffed at the promo.

Industry observers will surely be watching to see how Evening News performs in Dokoupil’s second full week, particularly given he landed an exclusive interview with President Donald Trump on Tuesday night.

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