CBS, NBC & ABC Evening News Ratings: Did Things Get Better for Tony Dokoupil?
What To Know
- Evening news ratings for Tony Dokoupil’s second week as CBS Evening News‘ anchor are in.
- His numbers slightly improved from his first week on-air.
- The ratings also revealed CBS stands compared to ABC and NBC’s nightly news programs.
Evening news ratings for the week of January 12 are in, including an update on how Tony Dokoupil fared in his second week as anchor of CBS Evening News. Dokoupil improved a bit from his first week on the air in the evening news slot.
In Dokoupil’s second week, CBS Evening News averaged 4.19 million total viewers, with 584,000 in the 25-54 adult demo, per The Hollywood Reporter. This was up from his first week, where he struggled a bit to get his footing with 4.17 million viewers and 533,000 adults in the 25-54 demographic.
Dokoupil’s best night of the week was Monday, January 12, where he drew in 6.38 million viewers. However, ABC’s numbers were also way up on that night (10.88 million viewers), which was likely due to NBC’s evening news program being preempted for NBA coverage, forcing their loyal viewers to tune into one of the other networks.
In 2025, the first two weeks in January brought in an average of 5.13 million viewers and 729,000 adults in the 25-54 demo at CBS Evening News, so Dokoupil’s numbers are still down from where the network was a year ago.
Dokoupil and CBS Evening News’ ratings have not improved enough to overtake those of NBC or ABC’s nightly news shows. Over on ABC, World News Tonight, hosted by David Muir, had an average of 8.16 million viewers, with 1.04 million in the 25-54 demo, for the week of January 12.
Tom Llamas‘ NBC Nightly News came in second place for the week, bringing in an average 6.68 million viewers and 964,000 in the adult demo.
Dokoupil began his tenure as the anchor of the evening news program on January 5. He took over for John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, who debuted in January 2025 and hosted their last show in December of the same year. This shift comes amid major programming changes at CBS News under the new leadership of Bari Weiss.
CBS Evening News, Weeknights, 6:30/5:30c, CBS
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D
Have watched CBS evening news since anchored by Cronkite, but recently switched to ABC with CBS's new biased ownership. Come May when Colbert leaves the network, will only watch the few CBS shows I'll still follow on DVR, zapping the commercials, so let's let their sponsors know they'll be wasting their money on CBS
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L
See BS has lost all of my respect. I will continue to watch Colbert till he is done then no matter what they put on I will not watch it.
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J
Worst new cast! At 6:30 CBS news is now awful He’s also very unlikable.
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C
He’s great!
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A
I'm sure Mr. Dokoupil will do just fine for now...
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G
Sadly he bombed. The new format Will Not Focus on WORLD NEWS. It will Focus on What DJT TELLS BARI WEISS TO PRESENT
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N
I think everyone should give Tony a chance. It's hard to get your footing right away, but after he builds his confidence he'll be just fine. Just give him a little time and don't be so quick to judge.
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A
If you watched him on the morning show with Gail King you would know some of his comments would lead you to believe he may be a Trump supporter. Is that why Weiss put him on the anchor desk?:To draw that side in? We already know they are leaning more conservative. I turned him off. I'm watching David Muir now. And after Colbert gone, I won't be watching CBS except a few DVR shows.
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R
Tony is doing
"AN AMAZING JOB"
He will continue to Excel.
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J
I think he’s great! It’s sad that people aren’t giving him a chance just because they don’t like his boss!
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R
Watching the national evening news is like buying a newspaper and only reading the headlines.
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L
You gotta start somewhere. If you like the headline you dig deeper. That goes for a newspaper as well
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L
Actually, I get tired of all the depressing news with war, school shootings, inflation, ISIS, etc. While these are definitely more important stories, throwing in something lighter is not only informative but acts as a little pick-me-up. So what if it was his Mom he interviewed for her opinion. She qualifies.
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M
I've always thought Tony was easy to watch. He is middle of the road on his presentation, and at least, thank the Lord, he doesn't waste his time or ours by staging fake giggling sessions with the other reporters or trying to sell us overpriced junk at supposed massive discounts. If I want the shopping channel, I'll turn it on. If I want giggles I'll find some Benny Hill re-runs. By comparison, Tony is doing an exceptional job!
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C
I think Tony should have been put in the evening anchor chair when he first got to CBS..he’s great
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G
The uptick in ratings the second week may have been people turning in to see the train wreck that was reported on from the first week. I found him unlikable on the morning show, interrupting and arrogant. Don’t know why they picked him, except that his politics fit. The Republicans are not about doing things by merit, as they like to claim. It’s all about partisanship, 1st amendment be damned.
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A
Isn't Fox News number 1 for the past 20 plus years.
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