{"id":531815,"date":"2026-03-19T00:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T00:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531815\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T00:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T00:32:09","slug":"top-cbs-evening-news-producer-may-be-on-chopping-block-as-ratings-plummet-to-new-low-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/531815\/","title":{"rendered":"Top ‘CBS Evening News’ producer may be on chopping block as ratings plummet to new low: sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time may be ticking for the top producer at \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d as ratings sink below 4 million<\/a> \u2014 a new low for the Tony Dokoupil-anchored show, CBS insiders told The Post.<\/p>\n

Executive producer Kim Harvey, who has overseen the nightly broadcast since last August, will ultimately take the fall unless she can pull the network\u2019s flagship show out of the abyss, insiders said.<\/p>\n

CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss installed Dokoupil as anchor in January \u2014 replacing co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois \u2014 in hopes of reviving ratings that had slid under 4 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cCBS Evening News\u201d hosted by Tony Dokoupil has hit a new ratings low, causing insiders to speculate that the show\u2019s executive producer could be on the chopping block. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Dokoupil\u2019s debut drew 4.4 million viewers and reached a ratings high of 4.6 million in late January, but viewership has steadily declined since \u2014 sinking to 3.8 million viewers for the week ending March 13, according to Nielsen ratings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty terrible. Once you\u2019re under 4 million, you\u2019ve got to be worried that you\u2019re in a death spiral,\u201d said one CBS insider. \u201cIf they can\u2019t retain an audience in the middle of a war, God help you when the war ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some insiders griped that \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d is just \u201ctoo soft\u201d under Harvey\u2019s direction. This week, the show ran a segment on a meteor sighting, and it has consistently closed the show with cute animal segments \u2014 which one source described as played out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s animal story overload,\u201d the source said. \u201cKim\u2019s thing is animals. She\u2019s turning Tony into the animal anchor.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s lacking is enterprise reporting, the person added, noting that one bright spot for the show was a recent hospice fraud investigation that Weiss pushed Harvey to put on the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cCBS Evening News’\u201d ratings have fallen below 4 million under executive producer Kim Harvey. CBS News<\/p>\n

A second CBS News source said, \u201cThe show has lost over a half a million viewers in three months. You\u2019ve got to sacrifice somebody to the ratings gods.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outlet blamed the drop in ratings to the recent time change due to daylight savings time, according to Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In contrast, top-rated \u201cABC World News Tonight\u201d reeled in 8.5 million viewers, followed by \u201cNBC Nightly News,\u201d which captured just over 6.5 million viewers.<\/p>\n

When ratings fall below a certain threshold \u2014 like they have at \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d \u2014 top brass begin to tinker with the graphics, set or programming before chopping the executive producer, sources noted.<\/p>\n

This week, \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d changed the background, flipping the camera around to show Dokoupil presenting the news in front of a dark blue world map. Audiences previously saw the newsroom in the background with a tight shot on Dokoupil, creating a more old-school look.<\/p>\n

CBS News denied Harvey\u2019s on the chopping block<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is ludicrous to suggest that a show\u2019s executive producer could be replaced because we changed a camera angle,\u201d a spokesperson for the network told The Post. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited about the new version of the CBS Evening News, and thrilled that our viewers are, too,\u201d the person added, noting Dokoupil has averaged higher audience numbers than the show drew for roughly the last 10 weeks of 2025.<\/p>\n

CBS editor in chief Bari Weiss brought Dokoupil in to anchor the \u201cEvening News,\u201d which has struggled in the ratings as of late. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But the cosmetic changes aren\u2019t going to turn around the show\u2019s sinking, last-place ratings, sources said \u2014 speculating that replacing Harvey is the next logical step.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a hot mess every night,\u201d the second source noted, adding that the show lost at least six producers<\/a> when the network offered buyouts in February, hampering output.<\/p>\n

Harvey, who was promoted to top producer in August, helmed the last few months of Dickerson and DuBois\u2019 disastrous tenure. She took over from Guy Campanile, a gruff Yonkers, NY, native and \u201c60 Minutes\u201d veteran <\/a>who locked horns with CBS News president Tom Cibrowski.<\/p>\n

Cibrowksi and senior vice president of editorial Wendy Fisher chose a more deferential person to lead the show \u2014 someone who would follow their orders \u2014 according to sources with knowledge of the matter.<\/p>\n

Critics pointed to softer segments as a potential reason for a fall off in \u201cEvening News’\u201d viewership. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sources said Dokoupil started off at a disadvantage as anchors usually pick their top producers, who in turn take cues from the anchor. Sources close to Dokoupil said the anchor has sung Harvey\u2019s praises and works well with her.<\/p>\n

Harvey aside, some critics said that the ratings slide is also Weiss\u2019s fault, noting that she tapped Dokoupil despite his sore lack of experience anchoring on his own.<\/p>\n

A former \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d co-host, Dokoupil got off to a bumpy start with a series of gaffe-filled<\/a> broadcasts, leaving some to wonder if he was experienced enough for the gig.<\/p>\n

Another challenge is keeping viewers\u2019 attention with compelling reports that are unique to the show.<\/p>\n

While Weiss, who took the network\u2019s helm in October, has said she wants to invest more in investigative journalism, the goal is yet to yield results.<\/p>\n

With more layoffs looming, insiders wonder how CBS News will simultaneously revamp marquee shows like \u201c60 Minutes\u201d and \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d while beefing up investigative storytelling \u2014 something that has suffered under previous leadership \u2014 sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing that CBS had going for it was enterprise and investigative journalism, and most nights, they are not leveraging this,\u201d said one insider, who noted that investigative journalism has largely flailed at the network in recent years amid cuts and a revolving door of new bosses. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole network has gone soft,\u201d the person concluded. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Time may be ticking for the top producer at \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d as ratings sink below 4 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[100518,28,991,61590,88,10815,227748,149597,92],"class_list":["post-531815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-bari-weiss","tag-business","tag-cbs","tag-cbs-evening-news","tag-entertainment","tag-media","tag-nielsen-ratings","tag-tony-dokoupil","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}