CBS News\u2019 viewership is at an all-time low as editor in chief Bari Weiss\u2019 and the network\u2019s president Tom Cibrowski have displayed jarringly different visions for how to revamp the struggling outlet \u2014 leading some staffers to tag the mismatched duo \u201cthe odd couple,\u201d The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
Weiss, the 42-year-old co-founder of scrappy news site The Free Press, took the helm in October with a plan for an aggressive digital strategy, a politically centrist editorial vision and an eye on restoring the home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite with hard news and enterprise reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, insiders say CBS News President Cibrowski \u2014 a TV veteran from ABC News who spent years producing the top-ranked \u201cGood Morning America\u201d and \u201cWorld News Tonight\u201d \u2014 has tried to boost ratings with softer coverage that\u2019s more squarely aimed at Middle America.<\/p>\n Tom Cibrowski with Bari Weiss in an undated photo. Michele Crowe\/CBS<\/p>\n Sources at CBS News called CBS editor in chief Bari Weiss and New President Tom Cibrowski \u201cthe odd couple\u201d for their clashing visions for the network. Getty Images for The Free Press<\/p>\n Sources said Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, who took control of CBS\u2019s parent company last fall, had been hoping that Weiss and Cibrowski \u2014 who had joined CBS News early last year under the network\u2019s previous owner Shari Redstone \u2014 would complement each others\u2019 skills.<\/p>\n Increasingly, it\u2019s looking like a flopped bet.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are an odd couple to me,\u201d said a CBS insider. \u201cThere doesn\u2019t seem to be a lot of synergies between them.\u201d<\/p>\n A source close to the network brushed off any suggestion that Weiss and Cibrowski are an \u201codd couple,\u201d instead calling their visions \u201ccomplementary.\u201d The person added that Cibrowski is taking \u201csome ingredients of ABC\u201d and mixing it with Weiss\u2019 \u201cfresh perspective,\u201d noting that it will \u201ctake time\u201d to see progress.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, according to a source, Weiss had tried to hire former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim<\/a>, when she joined the company in October, The Post has learned. Oppenheim, now a Hollywood screenwriter and producer, politely declined the offer, a source said.<\/p>\n Oppenheim did not return requests for comment. <\/p>\n Cibrowski (pictured) is focused on fixing the shows while Weiss is charting the network\u2019s editorial vision. CBS News<\/p>\n In recent months, sources noted that while Weiss and Cibrowski are working together, Weiss has her own lieutenants \u2014 Adam Rubenstein and Charles Forelle \u2014 and that Cibrowski often denotes his outsider position by referring to them as \u201cBari and her people.\u201d<\/p>\n Weiss, who occupies the executive suite overlooking the newsroom that was once the office of Scott Pelley when he anchored \u201cEvening News,\u201d has placed her lieutenants just a stone\u2019s throw away. Cibrowski\u2019s office is on a different floor, according to sources.<\/p>\n CBS anchors include Tony Dokoupil, Gayle King and Nate Burleson. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cUsually the No. 2\u2019s office is right near their boss\u2019s office,\u201d one source said, while adding that Cibrowski is trying to be \u201cloyal\u201d to Weiss because he \u201cwants to keep his job.\u201d<\/p>\n A CBS News spokesperson pushed back on such criticism, telling The Post: \u201cBari makes editorial decisions, is standing up new projects, and oversees the organization\u2019s transformation. Tom leads business operations and is working closely with the Morning Show. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not \u2018odd.\u2019 That\u2019s how successful leaders work together.\u201d<\/p>\n A source close to the network insisted that Cibrowski is \u201cnot Weiss\u2019 No. 2\u201d. While Weiss reports directly to Ellison, Cibrowski reports directly to CBS CEO George Cheeks.<\/p>\n Weiss asked former NBC News president Noah Oppenheim to join CBS News prior to her arrival in October, a \u201cHe\u2019s trying to fix the shows,\u201d another source said, adding that the all major editorial and hiring decisions still must be rubber stamped by Weiss, who has been described as being on her \u201cown timeline\u201d and is less concerned with the quick turnaround of TV news.<\/p>\n \u201cTom is profoundly frustrated,\u201d a third source said. \u201cHe has no power.\u201d<\/p>\n At \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d \u2014 where Weiss installed \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d co-host Tony Dokoupil as anchor in January<\/a> \u2014 ratings have slid to an average of 4.2 million viewers in the first quarter, down 7% from last year, with viewership in the coveted 25-54 demographic down 18% to 535,000.<\/p>\n As previously reported <\/a>by The Post, \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d executive producer Kim Harvey, under Cibrowski\u2019s direction, has created a \u201csoft\u201d program that starts off newsy but typically gives way to lighter fare like cute pet segments and meteor sightings.<\/p>\n Tony Dokoupil, who decamped from \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d for the \u201cEvening News\u201d anchor chair, has yet to be replaced on the show. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cCBS News is becoming ABC News lite,\u201d a network source said.<\/p>\n Another added that Cibrowski has a \u201cdim view of the American people\u201d and thinks they want \u201czero substance\u201d but in reality, with in such a busy news cycle, they are \u201cdemanding information.\u201d<\/p>\n Twice in March, the program\u2019s ratings sunk below 4 million \u2014 a new low for \u201cEvening News\u201d \u2014 prompting speculation that Harvey could ultimately take the fall<\/a> if ratings don\u2019t rebound.<\/p>\n One former CBS exec said Dokoupil can\u2019t compete with \u201cWorld News Tonight\u201d anchor David Muir or \u201cNBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas,\u201d who are supported by teams of seasoned, heavy-hitting correspondents. Following recent layoffs, CBS News lacks a Justice Department correspondent and its Pentagon correspondent is in the Middle East covering the War.<\/p>\n The network re-upped Gayle King\u2019s deal as co-anchor of \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d earlier this year. REUTERS<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t do David Muir lite,\u201d the source said. \u201cWhen s\u2013t hits the fan, CBS doesn\u2019t have heavyweights like [ABC\u2019s] Martha Raddatz, Pierre Thomas or Jonathan Karl.\u201d<\/p>\n Another source noted that Cibrowski and Weiss were handed a \u201cbag of doo doo\u201d from previous CBS News boss Wendy McMahon and former executive producer Bill Owens, who re-imagined the \u201cEvening News\u201d to be a \u201cmini \u201960 Minutes’\u201d hosted by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. The duo tanked, with ratings consistently hitting below 4 million.<\/p>\n \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d \u2014 whose co-host Gayle King just reupped her contract <\/a>with a reportedly downsized pay package after months of speculation about her future \u2014 averaged just under 1.8 million viewers in the quarter ended March 31. That\u2019s down 13% from a year earlier. Viewers in the crucial 25-54 demo plunged 27% to 270,000 \u2014 the show\u2019s worst quarter ever.<\/p>\n Josh Elliott was expected to try out for Dokoupil\u2019s chair on \u201cCBS Mornings\u201d but the deal fell through once details A source close to CBS said Weiss and Cibrowski have \u201ccomplimentary visions\u201d and that it will take time to turnaround the struggling news network. AP<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is there\u2019s no bench and there\u2019s hardly any frontline talent,\u201d an insider said.<\/p>\n Sources pointed specifically how long it is taking to replace Dokoupil, who decamped for the anchor chair at \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d in January, to co-host alongside King and Nate Burleson. <\/p>\n The network had been expected to bring on Josh Elliott, a former CBS News anchor who previously worked for \u201cGMA,\u201d for a trial run, but sources said talks fell through once details of Elliot\u2019s messy divorce were splashed across the pages of Page Six.<\/a><\/p>\n
source with knowledge said. Getty Images for Puck<\/p>\n
of his messy divorce became public. Getty Images<\/p>\n