The "CBS Evening News" recorded its highest viewership in 17 weeks during the week of July 27, averaging 4.1 million viewers. This marks the first time the broadcast has surpassed the 4 million viewer threshold since late March.
The ratings increase coincided with correspondent Matt Gutman filling in for anchor Tony Dokoupil, who was on vacation. According to Nielsen data, Gutman's tenure saw an increase of over 100,000 viewers compared to Dokoupil's recent performance. Furthermore, "CBS Evening News" saw gains in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic, with Gutman drawing 570,000 viewers in that category versus Dokoupil's 516,000 from the previous week.
Sources within CBS News suggest that these figures could prompt discussions about the anchor position. "If this trend continues, [CBS News Editor-in-Chief] Bari Weiss will have to think about changing anchors," one source speculated. Another insider indicated that if Dokoupil, who took the helm in January, cannot maintain viewership above 4 million upon his return, it would suggest the audience preference lies with Gutman.
"CBS Evening News" has faced challenges in consistently reaching 4 million viewers since a significant overhaul of the program earlier this year, which included Dokoupil's appointment. While the program briefly hit the 4 million mark during the week of June 22, it had not sustained that level since averaging 4.2 million viewers in the week of March 30.
Some CBS staff members have attributed the recent ratings bump to what they call the "curse of Tony Dokoupil," referring to a series of incidents since he began anchoring on January 5. These have included a teleprompter malfunction, anchoring a broadcast from Taiwan after visa issues prevented coverage of a US-China summit in Beijing, a cameraman collapsing from exhaustion during a broadcast, and a mistaken image of rapper Kanye West being aired instead of Sean "Diddy" Combs. Additionally, Dokoupil was evacuated from the National Mall during CBS's July 4th special due to thunderstorms, impacting planned programming and leading to the program being scrubbed from some CBS platforms.