MAGA-friendly 'CBS Evening News' sees viewership plummet to alarming levels: report

"CBS Evening News" crashed back below the dreaded 4 million viewer threshold following it's MAGA-friendly makeover, a red line that previously triggered major shake-ups at the network, Variety reported Tuesday.

For the week ending March 13, the program drew just 3.83 million viewers, with a measly 468,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic, according to Nielsen data. The stark freefall comes after anchor Tony Dokoupil's start in January, when he debuted with 4.17 million viewers. Shortly thereafter, he brought in 4.6 million.

Meanwhile, the competition is lapping CBS.

ABC's "World News Tonight" commanded an average 8.48 million viewers, while NBC's "Nightly News" pulled 6.51 million. In the key demographic, both networks crushed CBS with 1.03 million and 946,000 viewers, respectively.

"Quarter to date as of March 12, 'CBS Evening News' has shed 15% of its viewership in the critical 25-to-54 demo, the audience coveted by advertisers in news programming, over the year-earlier period. In comparison, NBC’s 'NBC Nightly News' is up 8% in the demo, while ABC’s 'World News Tonight' is off 4%," the report said.

Former "CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O'Donnell, meanwhile, ended her tenure in 2024 with an audience of nearly 5.4 million.

New CBS News editor in chief, Bari Weiss, has faced widespread criticism from observers across the political spectrum since her installation and the network's MAGA-friendly coverage.