Overview
- Multiple outlets on Monday reported staffers calling editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski “the odd couple” over competing visions for CBS News.
- CBS Evening News averaged 4.2 million viewers in the first quarter, down 7% year over year, with the 25–54 audience down 18% to about 535,000, and some mid-March broadcasts slipped below 4 million.
- CBS Mornings drew just under 1.8 million viewers in the quarter, a 13% drop from last year, and its 25–54 viewership fell 27% to roughly 270,000, marking the show’s worst quarter on record.
- Weiss is pushing a hard-news, digital-first approach, while Cibrowski favors softer programming aimed at Middle America, and a CBS spokesperson said their duties are distinct and complementary.
- Recent cuts of about 6% and the shutdown of CBS Radio, plus an unfilled morning co-anchor after Tony Dokoupil moved to the Evening News in January, have left a thin bench for quick on-air fixes.