New York, May 15, 2026, 11:05 EDT
- During the week of May 4, CBS Evening News drew 3.702 million viewers, coming in behind both ABC and NBC.
- ABC’s World News Tonight pulled in 8.183 million viewers. NBC Nightly News, by comparison, had an audience of 6.125 million.
- That decline ramps up the heat on CBS, just four months into Tony Dokoupil’s stint as anchor.
CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil slipped again in the first full week of May, bringing in 3.702 million total viewers and 473,000 in the 25-to-54 demographic—an age group advertisers zero in on. Numbers fell 4% overall and 13% in that key demo compared to the week before, TV Insider reported, citing Adweek data.
The figures carry weight as CBS works to steady one of the country’s flagship news programs following its January anchor shakeup. Tony Dokoupil—previously a co-host at CBS Mornings—was tapped for the anchor job back in December. CBS News, with Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief, put Dokoupil in the chair starting Jan. 5.
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir brought in 8.183 million viewers, pulling 976,000 from the 25-54 demographic and locking in the top slot. That’s a lead of more than 4.4 million over CBS and a cushion of just over 2 million compared to NBC, according to the Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers—which include those catching the show live and anyone tuning in later the same day.
NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas held the No. 2 spot again, pulling in an average of 6.125 million viewers, with 903,000 in the 25-54 age group. NBC reported a lead over CBS by 2.423 million total viewers and a 430,000 advantage in the 25-54 demographic last week.
CBS did manage a small gain, with its overall audience up 2% versus the same week last year. Still, the network saw a 6% drop among adults 25-54—the demo that matters most to both advertisers and networks tracking ratings.
CBS’s newest number comes on the heels of a soft April. On May 8, The Daily Beast, referencing Nielsen data via Status, noted that CBS Evening News pulled in an average of 3.85 million viewers for the week starting April 27, marking the fourth week in a row the show stayed under the 4 million mark.
CBS described Dokoupil’s arrival as a fresh start. Weiss, at the time, pointed to his “old-school journalistic values.” CBS News President Tom Cibrowski praised him as “authentic, compassionate, unafraid.” Executive producer Kim Harvey promised the show would reach viewers “where they are every night.” CBS News
There’s a wrinkle here. One week’s ratings won’t answer whether a news program overhaul is flopping or just bottoming out, and those May 4 averages used only four regular telecasts per network—anything broadcast under different titles was tossed from the weekly count.
This week, CBS was back under the microscope after Tony Dokoupil reported from Taipei—not Beijing—during President Donald Trump’s China trip. According to the New York Post, CBS hadn’t secured a China visa in time. During the Taiwan broadcast, People said a cameraman had a medical emergency; CBS later reported the staffer was recovering. Those events occurred after the May 4 ratings window, but they kept CBS in the headlines.
Right now, the race is clear. ABC has a strong lead. NBC, while trailing in total viewers, is more of a factor in the key demo. CBS, still working to establish its revamped evening newscast, is under pressure to lure viewers without scaring off the younger demographic advertisers watch most.
