What To Know
- CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, is reportedly considering Fox News anchor Bret Baier as a potential new anchor for CBS Evening News.
- The network has recently shifted CBS Evening News to a magazine-style format with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois as hosts.
- Since these changes and the departure of former anchor Norah O’Donnell, the show’s ratings have declined.
CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, is ready to put her stamp on the network as she eyes potential candidates to take over CBS Evening News, including Fox News anchor Bret Baier, according to recent reports.
As reported by Oliver Darcy’s Status newsletter, Weiss has been “quietly canvassing” for a fresh face to helm the flagship show, with Baier one of the names floated for the job. However, as Darcy pointed out, Baier extended his contract with Fox News in 2023 through 2028, making an immediate move to CBS highly unlikely.
Baier joined Fox News in 1998, initially serving as the network’s Atlanta bureau chief before becoming the Pentagon correspondent in 2001, a role he held for five years. In 2007, he was named the network’s White House correspondent and also began substituting for Brit Hume, then the anchor of Special Report, on Fridays. He went on to take over as Special Report anchor permanently on January 5, 2009, a position he’s held ever since.
Weiss is known for founding The Free Press with her spouse, Nellie Bowles. The publication started life as a newsletter in 2021 before growing into an associated media company in 2022. Paramount Skydance acquired the site on October 6, and Paramount CEO David Ellison hired Weiss as the new editor-in-chief of CBS News.
It was previously reported that Weiss had been meeting with staffers and reporters as she looks to shake up CBS Evening News, including the show’s former anchor, Norah O’Donnell, who hosted the program from July 2019 to January 2025. Status also reports that CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil is among the names being considered for the position.
CBS decided to make significant changes to its Evening News broadcast earlier this year, with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois taking over as hosts. Rather than focusing on the latest headlines, the show is now more of a 60 Minutes-style magazine format, airing longer segments on specific topics.
Despite the changes, CBS Evening News‘ ratings have dropped since Dickerson and DuBois took over, averaging 4.1 million total viewers per episode, according to Nielsen, compared to O’Donnell’s average of 4.8 million.