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am following Bari Weiss-Powered Sitdown he was with erica kirk massive ratings flopCBS News has doubled down on the format and is launching a new town hall series in partnership with Weiss’ “anti-woke” digital media outlet that the network’s parent company recently purchased.
According to the network’s press release, a series of town halls and debates will be convened things that matterAnd the first participant will be Vice President J.D. Vance. According to a network source, the Vance interview will air in early 2026, with a location and date to be determined.
“We live in a divided country. A country where many people can’t talk to people with whom they disagree. Where people can’t talk across the political divide — or sometimes even across the kitchen table,” the network said Thursday. “The things that matter are aimed at changing that.”
Sponsored by Bank of America and presented by both CBS News and The Free Press, the series will also feature OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Maryland Governor Wes Moore. The network said the programs “will be held across the country in front of audiences who are interested in the topics discussed.”
Independent It turns out that other CBS News moderators will also be hosting the town hall, meaning it won’t be limited to just Weiss.
Based on the press release, the town halls will focus on the state of religion, feminism, capitalism, artificial intelligence, and politics. CBS News announced, “The debates echo the nation’s 250th anniversary, showing how much the power of America’s founding principles – civil, substantive discussion, free from rancour – matter today.”
Weiss, who Was named editor-in-chief of CBS News in October Paramount president David Ellison teased at the end of his town hall with Kirk that CBS News would air similar specials in the near future. “So stay tuned. More town halls, more debates, more conversations about things that matter,” she commented.
even before this much-publicized kirk broadcastWho was it Promoted by Network Weiss saw the opportunity to explore “the state of life, loss, and political discourse” with the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. publicly expressed desire Using on-air debates to “speak to the 75 percent of people left of center and right of center.” The example he used to make his point at the time was a Free Press debate between former Jeffrey Epstein attorney Alan Dershowitz and ex-NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch. ridiculed He then claimed that this showed that “centrist news” could be “frankly charismatic”.
Weiss, as the employees called him “shallow” And Kirk was desperate to get on TV to book herself as the town hall moderator, she insisted on things that matter A statement Thursday will appeal to most Americans.
“We believe the majority of Americans want honest conversation and civilized, passionate debate,” he said. “This series is for them. At a moment when people believe the truth is what is served to them on their social media feeds, we can’t think of anything more important than emphasizing that the only way to get to the truth is to talk to each other.”
However, the relative lack of interest in Saturday’s highly publicized Kirk Town Hall would indicate that the “vast majority of Americans” do not actually want what Weiss is selling.
Despite following the Army-Navy game that attracted 7.3 million viewers, the Weis-Kirk special averaged 1.867 million total viewers and 265,000 in the coveted advertising demographic of adults aged 25 to 54.
While CBS News presented the town hall as a “successful” ratings win, noting that it “grew double-digit ratings increases in its time slot” compared to recent weeks and was its “most-viewed interview ever on social media”, these figures do not tell the whole story.
Although Saturday nights at 8 p.m. ET are typically one of the lowest-rated primetime hours on broadcast television, CBS has typically drawn more than 2 million viewers in that time slot this year. In fact, according to nielsenThe network averaged 2.109 million viewers in that hour throughout 2025 and 449,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic, representing a 41 percent decline in the key demo and an 11 percent decline in total viewership for Kirk Town Hall.
Additionally, although CBS News has nearly 7 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, the streamed version of the event and an extended episode have barely garnered 200,000 views combined over the past few days.
A CBS News staffer explained, “It’s very rich that they’re calling it things that matter. Really to whom? It should really be called, things that Bari Weiss wants to lecture America about.” Independent“And after the first so-called town hall, it’s quite clear that America does not want to be lectured by Bari Weiss,”
Although the Town Hall series is Weiss’s brainchild and co-presented by The Free Press, she will not be the sole moderator of the programs, as other on-air personalities from CBS News will also host special programs.
Meanwhile, in recent days, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Sibrowski have not actually spoken to network employees about the Kirk town hall. sources told Independent That the pair did not address the program during Monday morning’s editorial meeting.
“Obviously this is not a chest-beating victory,” said a staffer at the time of Puck’s Dylan Byers. informed Weiss “even told his fellow officers that there was no need to dwell on this any longer.” Plus, based on Thursday’s announcement, Weiss and the network are clearly committed to the format.
Amid the teeth-grinding situation over the soft reception of Weisz’s on-air CBS debut, the top editor has even delayed a “loosely planned internal town hall” until January. As noted by Status Newsthat “the decision came as the network struggled with low ratings for a broadcast it had largely promoted as a sign of its new editorial direction.”
Elsewhere this week, Weiss also announced members of its new executive team, which will include Sam Siegel as chief operating officer and Sophia Efthimiatou as senior vice president of talent and brand strategy.
He also revealed that he had created an editorial masthead, making it official already wall street journal Editor Charles Forell is now managing editor, while his close friend Adam Rubenstein will serve as deputy editor of CBS News – the same role he serves at The Free Press.
moreover, according to buyersWeiss also plans to sign a series of new on-air contributors, including “former national security advisor HR McMaster.” Former Marine Elliot AckermanCultural analyst Casey Lewis, chef and food writer Claire de Boer, and Puck’s own Lauren Sherman.