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One of the top priorities in Bari Weiss’ budding reign at the helm of CBS News has been to revamp the network’s evening newscast, which was once anchored by the legendary Walter Cronkite but has recently been relegated to third place. turnstile of hosts And a recent format change.
Weiss, founder of the anti-woke digital outlet The Free Press, was installed as the network’s editor-in-chief earlier this month. carefully focused On bringing in a high-profile external candidate to help reverse CBS Evening News’ Boosting Fortune and its increasingly struggling ratings.
while it is has already been informed Weiss is eyeing Fox News chief political anchor Brett Baier and CNN star Anderson Cooper for the role, despite both earning eight-figure salaries and being tied to contracts with rival networks. Guardian Revealed on Friday Another name has joined the race: Fox News anchor Dana Perino.
Perino, a former spokesman for George W. Bush, has been with the conservative cable giant since 2009 and currently serves as co-anchor of the afternoon newscast. America’s Newsroom and a panelist on the top-rated Roundtable program Five,
Independent CBS News has reached out for comment. Fox News declined to comment.
Like Bayer, who CBS News debunked the rumors this week Perino has a long-term contract with the right-wing network, clarifying that he is under contract with Fox News until 2028. In fact, like Guardian Reportedly, she is tied to the Fox News deal until 2030.
While it’s highly unlikely that Perino will be able to join CBS due to her contract – she would need to negotiate a buyout with Fox owners Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch – this much is clear: she’s a self-described “huge fan” of Weiss, and vice versa.
During an appearance on Weiss’s podcast last spring, Perino declared that The Free Press is “one of the best things that has kept me more informed and smarter, and also super entertained.” In return, Weiss praised the Fox News star.
“The private mage is even kinder and brighter than the public mage,” East new York Times the columnist announced. “You’re a guy who, frankly, just has classy behavior, the kind of class that I think a lot of people have forgotten.”
When Weiss was asked about considering Perino for the lead CBS Evening NewsA senior CBS News staffer responded Independent With face-palm emoji.
Another industry insider said Independent“Amateur Hour doesn’t even begin to describe the way CBS and Bari work – very crude and no serious knowledge of how the industry works, and very little knowledge of how talent contracts are made and how to actually build and cultivate a star. Shameful.”
Another name floating around the network as a possible candidate CBS Evening NewsFirst reported by Guardian and confirmed by Independent The source, along with multiple sources, is former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith.
Smith, who abruptly left Fox in 2019 amid an on-air dispute with then-host Tucker Carlson, was last seen in the anchor chair hosting a weeknight newscast on CNBC, which ended in 2022 when the network abandoned the experiment after low ratings. The veteran anchor, who has kept a low profile since leaving the airwaves, does not appear to be a serious contender for the CBS news program, sources said.
Earlier this week, amid rumors that Weiss and network president Tom Sibrowski were making sweeping changes to the show, CBS Evening News Co-anchor John Dickerson announced that he is going Both the program and the network at the end of the year. His fellow host on the telecast, Maurice DuBois, is not expected to remain with the show as it is expected to return to a single-anchor format.
While Weiss is looking to generate buzz for the flagship evening broadcast by bringing in illustrious outsiders, there are also a number of internal candidates in the running for the anchor’s seat.
Norah O’Donnell, who hosted CBS Evening News Dickerson and DuBois served for five years before returning to the position and, according to CBS sources, were aggressively lobbying Weiss for another chance.
cbs morning Co-anchor Tony Dokoupil, joined by Weiss and The Free Press defended vigorously after he was scolded His controversial interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates last year is viewed as an internal favorite by CBS News management. However, according to multiple network insiders, she has revealed her cbs morning Colleagues have no interest in him.
Regardless of who steps in as the next anchor CBS Evening NewsCurrently drawing only half the audience of rival ABC News’ nightly newscasts, the show would be completely revamped once again in less than a year. its latest change,
In addition to replacing O’Donnell with Dickerson and DuBois as a two-man anchor team, the network moved the show from Washington, DC to New York City. tried to fashion it After the top-rated Sunday news magazine 60 minutesThis included placing it under the care of the then-60 minutes Executive producer Bill Owens, who will leave the network after months amid growing tension over Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the network, which Paramount settled weeks ago David Allison’s merger with Skydance Media,
Meanwhile there was drama all around CBS Evening News This is just the tip of the iceberg for the network, which has been messed with Turbulence and falling employee morale among rapid layoff, cut programming, Rumblings of other radical changesConcerns about Ellison shifting the network to the right to promote Trump Weiss’s recent arrivalWho do not have any experience in broadcast journalism.