NEW YORK — Tony Dokoupil has been officially named anchor of the “CBS Evening News”, with his first broadcast scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026, in a high-profile reshuffling of the network’s flagship newscast under new editor in chief Bari Weiss. The appointment marks Weiss’ first major staffing move and comes as CBS seeks to revive a third-place evening newscast in a crowded media landscape, the network said in a statement, Dec. 10, 2025.
Tony Dokoupil’s path to the “CBS Evening News” desk
Tony Dokoupil, 44, is hardly a newcomer to CBS viewers. The Emmy-winning journalist joined CBS News in 2016 after stints at Newsweek, The Daily Beast, NBC News and MSNBC, and became a co-anchor of the network’s morning franchise in 2019. He stepped into the national spotlight when he joined Gayle King and Anthony Mason as co-hosts of “CBS This Morning” in a retooled lineup announced by CBS in May 2019, a move that positioned him as one of the network’s most familiar faces.
Since then, Tony Dokoupil has helped front “CBS Mornings” and a third-hour spin-off while covering major stories from the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to international crises, building a reputation as an energetic generalist who can toggle between hard news and lighter features. His promotion means he will leave the pre-dawn wake-up calls of morning TV for the 6:30 p.m. ET slot long associated with CBS legends Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Katie Couric.
Dokoupil succeeds John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, who took over “CBS Evening News” as co-anchors earlier this year but struggled to arrest a ratings slide that has left the broadcast trailing ABC’s “World News Tonight” and NBC’s “Nightly News.” CBS executives are betting that a single-anchor format and a familiar face can give the program a clearer identity at a moment when traditional nightly newscasts are fighting to retain viewers.
Bari Weiss’ first big swing at a restless newsroom
The decision is also a defining early moment for Bari Weiss, the former opinion writer and founder of The Free Press who became CBS News editor in chief this fall after the Skydance–Paramount deal reshaped the company. Her arrival has already sparked internal debate over layoffs, beat restructurings and a sharper, sometimes contrarian editorial tone; a Washington Post examination last month described a “newsroom culture clash” as Weiss pushed for stories she believes other outlets overlook.
Earlier reports suggested Weiss had explored outside stars — including Fox News anchor Bret Baier — for the “CBS Evening News” chair before turning to an internal candidate in Tony Dokoupil. Choosing a longtime CBS presence over a splashy import signals a calculated compromise: a host aligned with Weiss’ push for more confrontational, debate-driven interviews but grounded enough in the network’s culture to reassure wary staffers and viewers.
A lightning-rod interviewer at the helm
Tony Dokoupil’s selection comes barely a year after one of the most controversial moments of his career: a tense 2024 interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about Israel and the war in Gaza. CBS executives later rebuked Dokoupil, saying the exchange did not meet the network’s standards, a reprimand that drew both criticism and praise inside and outside the newsroom, as detailed in industry coverage of the episode.
Weiss, however, has privately and publicly framed that interrogation as an example of the “old-school” journalism she wants to revive at CBS — tough questioning, skeptical of all sides and willing to challenge popular narratives. Elevating Tony Dokoupil to the marquee role effectively doubles down on that philosophy, positioning the newscast as a nightly showcase for muscular, sometimes abrasive interviews that could differentiate CBS from its more staid competitors.
High stakes for a struggling flagship
The stakes are considerable. CBS’ evening broadcast has been stuck in third place and lost roughly a sixth of its audience in 2024, even as overall linear TV news consumption softens. The Tony Dokoupil appointment is part of a broader Weiss-driven reset that also includes hiring ABC News veteran Matt Gutman as chief correspondent and rethinking how the network uses its digital platforms to build a cross-platform evening news franchise, according to a recent Reuters report.
In a statement confirming the promotion, CBS highlighted Tony Dokoupil’s years of reporting and described him as a journalist committed to “asking the hard questions” and “following the facts wherever they lead,” language that underscores the network’s desire to rebuild public trust. Whether viewers follow him from mornings to the dinner-hour broadcast — and whether Weiss’ shake-up calms or deepens CBS’ internal turmoil — will become clearer when Dokoupil signs on as “CBS Evening News” anchor for the first time on Jan. 5, 2026.
