Nothing says "job security" quite like going on a two week vacation and having your replacement absolutely smoke your numbers in the ratings. That is exactly what happened to CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil, whose fill-in Matt Gutman pulled in roughly 4.1 million viewers, about 300,000 more than Dokoupil averaged throughout July, as Trending Politics reported.
Gutman, a former ABC News correspondent, gave the broadcast its strongest week since March, and he did it while the regular guy was presumably sipping something tropical on a beach somewhere. Meanwhile, July was Dokoupil's worst month since he first sat down in the anchor chair back in January. He hasn't cracked four million viewers since March. So basically, the show got better the moment he left. That's the kind of performance review nobody wants.
One veteran television executive couldn't wrap their head around the timing of this little getaway. Summer, they argued, is when lower rated shows typically try to claw back ground against competitors. "Everyone is entitled to a vacation, but when you are trying to build an audience and fighting to right a failing ship, taking a two weeker is a head scratcher," the executive said, adding the quiet part out loud: "Makes you wonder if Dokoupil has given up."
Another executive was even more brutal, calling the whole situation "another dagger in Tony's neck" and "baffling." They also pointed out that ABC's David Muir was away during the exact same period, meaning Dokoupil missed a golden opportunity to steal viewers. Instead, his substitute did it for him. Ouch.
CBS insiders tried to play defense, telling the Daily Mail that the stronger numbers were really about a heavier news cycle that week, not about who was behind the desk. "The week of 7/27 just generated more news," they explained. Sure, and it's always the weather's fault when your team loses.
The whole saga unfolds against the backdrop of a massive CBS News overhaul led by editor in chief Bari Weiss. She's the one who recruited the 45 year old Dokoupil from CBS Mornings after the network ditched its dual anchor format, a decision that had already hemorrhaged more than 1.2 million viewers. Four million viewers was long considered the minimum acceptable audience internally, and hitting that number has become increasingly elusive under Dokoupil's watch.
Weiss was brought aboard in October after new Paramount CEO David Ellison took the reins with plans to grow the CBS News audience and push its digital strategy. Gutman, who is 48, was also one of her early recruits after departing ABC News. But not everyone at the network is buying what this new regime is selling. According to Status, some CBS employees now point the finger directly at Weiss. One source put it bluntly: "The problem is clearly Bari. We are all trying to clean this up, but we need Ellison's help."
So to recap: the anchor can't hold viewers, the substitute outperforms him, and the boss is catching blame from her own staff. Just another totally normal day at CBS News.
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