Overview
- A Nielsen-based Status report says CBS’s flagship broadcasts are on pace for some of their weakest first-quarter averages in years.
- CBS Evening News has averaged about 4.3 million viewers for the quarter, down 7% year over year, with adults 25–54 down 18% to about 541,000.
- CBS Mornings has averaged about 1.8 million viewers, down 13% from last year, with its 25–54 audience off 28% to roughly 268,000.
- Competitors gained viewers in the same period, with ABC’s nightly newscast near 8.7 million on average, up 8%, and NBC’s broadcast near 7 million, up 6%, widening CBS’s gap.
- CBS recently cut about 6% of its newsroom and closed its long-running radio division, and insiders cited by the Post describe low morale and warn more personnel moves could follow if ratings fail to recover.