Key keywords: CBS Evening News ratings 2024, Tony Dokoupil viewership collapse, network news ratings crisis, CBS News primetime performance, broadcast news audience decline, linear news ratings slump, Norah O'Donnell CBS successor, 18-49 news demographic ratings Fresh Nielsen Media Research data released this week confirms a historic ratings collapse for CBS Evening News, with anchor Tony Dokoupil presiding over the lowest viewership numbers the flagship broadcast has recorded in more than 30 years. The dismal Q2 2024 figures show total average viewership for the program dropped 22% year-over-year, while the key 18-49 advertising demographic plummeted 31%, widening the gap between CBS and its two main competitors, ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC’s Nightly News, to record levels. Dokoupil, who took over sole anchor duties in January 2024 following the departure of long-time host Norah O'Donnell, was brought on to refresh the evening news lineup and attract younger audiences, a goal that has so far completely eluded CBS leadership. Industry insiders point to a clear mismatch between Dokoupil’s casual, conversational on-air style honed during his years as co-host of CBS Mornings and the expectations of evening news audiences, who are largely over the age of 55 and prioritize gravitas, credibility, and straightforward reporting over lighthearted asides and personal anecdotes during broadcasts. Viewers have also repeatedly criticized the show’s shifted editorial focus under Dokoupil’s tenure, with nearly 40% of recent airtime dedicated to viral social media clips, celebrity entertainment news, and partisan political bickering segments, rather than the in-depth hard news coverage of economic trends, global events, and local policy changes that long defined CBS Evening News. Internal CBS documents leaked to industry outlets show network executives held an emergency all-day summit last week to address the ratings crisis, with proposed solutions ranging from a complete overhaul of the program’s segment lineup to testing a rotating cast of guest anchors to see if alternative personalities can reverse the viewership decline. While linear broadcast news has seen gradual audience declines across the board over the past decade, CBS’s 22% drop is more than triple the 6% average decline recorded by ABC and NBC’s evening news programs over the same period, making clear the slump is not a broader industry trend but a specific failure of CBS’s decision to install Dokoupil as anchor without conducting pre-launch audience testing or adjusting the program’s format to fit his strengths. Network representatives have so far declined to comment on rumors that Dokoupil could be removed from the anchor desk as soon as the end of 2024 if ratings do not improve in the third quarter.