CBS appears to be bracing for another major shake-up in its struggling news division, as the network reportedly prepares to elevate CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil to the anchor chair at CBS Evening News. The move follows what has been described as a difficult and ultimately unsuccessful effort by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss to lure a high-profile figure to lead the flagship program.
According to reporting from Oliver Darcy, Dokoupil has been selected by Weiss and CBS President Tom Cibrowski to replace current co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, both of whom are expected to exit the show at the end of the year.
The decision comes after CBS leadership reportedly attempted to recruit bigger names from across the media landscape but could not secure the kind of star power they had hoped would revive the network’s ratings.
CBS News has picked Tony Dokoupil as ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor: source https://t.co/UP6uCOfxnW pic.twitter.com/YrGTCFbN9N
— New York Post (@nypost) December 9, 2025
Darcy reported that Weiss and Cibrowski had expressed interest in several “major names,” including Fox News host Bret Baier and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper. But despite targeting some of the most recognizable journalists in the industry, CBS News was ultimately “unable to recruit such a high-wattage star.” With Dickerson and DuBois soon departing and time running out, the network had little choice but to move quickly and promote from within. Dokoupil is now expected to step into the high-profile role at the start of the new year.
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The situation underscores the network’s ongoing instability, a challenge that became even more visible last week when the New York Post reported that CBS had “scrambled” to lock in Dokoupil after DuBois abruptly announced his resignation on social media. The announcement not only surprised viewers but appears to have blindsided CBS executives as well.
DuBois posted that December 18 would mark his final broadcast on CBS News. “A couple weeks to go; until then, see you on The CBS Evening News every night at 6:30,” he wrote. The timing and tone of the message raised questions about what was happening behind the scenes at the network.
According to the Post, DuBois’ decision to resign came after he was informed by network executives that he would not be “the future” of the program. The revelation reportedly caught the network off-guard, suggesting a level of internal disarray as CBS works to reconfigure its evening lineup. The scramble to secure Dokoupil, paired with an unsuccessful attempt to poach top-tier talent from other networks, paints a picture of a news division working under pressure and struggling to execute a coherent strategy.
As CBS prepares to enter the new year with yet another shift in its anchor lineup, the question remains whether the network’s leadership can stabilize its flagship broadcast or whether this latest change will amount to little more than another attempt to stop the bleeding. For now, the network is turning to an internal face—after failing to land the kind of marquee figure it openly pursued.
