Overview
- CBS announced a three-hour primetime special called The Great American Block Party 250 that will air live on July 4 and be hosted by CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and Entertainment Tonight co-host Nischelle Turner.
- The show will feature confirmed performances by the Zac Brown Band, Jon Batiste, the Goo Goo Dolls and The War and Treaty with Dokoupil and Turner hosting live from the Washington Monument.
- Producers say the broadcast will include filmed and live scenes from cities and sites such as Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Charleston, New York, Philadelphia, Mount Rushmore and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
- Organizers describe the finale as the largest fireworks show in Washington, D.C. history, a promotional claim that CBS is carrying but that the coverage does not independently verify.
- Dokoupil’s role on the special comes after his January move to anchor CBS Evening News, a program that has averaged roughly 4 million viewers since that change and has drawn some critical scrutiny of his approach.