Entertainment
CBS Evening News Keeps Hemorrhaging Viewers
Tony Dokoupil has steered “CBS Evening News” for 16 weeks now. But as the show’s ratings continue to decline, it appears he’s captaining a ship fighting an impossible current.
The Dokoupil-led “Evening News” hit its lowest-rated month in total viewers since the anchor took over, averaging less than 3.9 million viewers throughout April. In the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic, the show is averaging 497,000 viewers, its lowest April in the demo this century. But the show is up 2% in total viewers from April 2025, which remains its lowest-rated April in total viewers this century. (Status first reported some of the figures.)
The numbers reflect a dismal start to Dokoupil’s second quarter in the anchor chair, raising questions over whether his stewardship can turn around the perennially third-place program. The show averaged 4.279 million viewers in its first quarter, down 7% from the same period last year, while its 25-54 audience was at 535,000 viewers, down nearly 20%.
“Tony Dokoupil is an exceptional talent and experienced journalist who continues to build a program designed to reach audiences wherever they consume the news,” a CBS News spokesperson told TheWrap.
Throughout April, more than three weeks averaged under 4 million total viewers, including every weekday between April 13 and April 24. The show’s lowest-rated week was last week, averaging 3.78 million total viewers and 467,000 viewers in the demo.
“Evening News” was Bari Weiss’ first major programming overhaul since she became CBS News’ editor-in-chief in October, as the show posted a ratings average of 3.75 million total viewers and 435,000 in the demo. The John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois-led telecast was largely seen as needing a revamp, and Dokoupil, one of the longtime anchors of “CBS Mornings,” was seen as a likely replacement given his years at the network and his seemingly shared sympathies with Weiss on Israel.
The broadcast he intended to produce, he said in a pre-debut message, was to dismiss “the analysis of academics or elites” in favor of an average viewer’s voice and to be “more accountable and more transparent” than “Evening News” stalwart Walter Cronkite. But since taking over, Dokoupil has weathered criticism over his coverage of the Trump administration and his interviews with some Trump officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump himself.
Network executives believe the continued decline is attributable to general viewership trends, according to an individual familiar with the matter, which have seen audiences pivot from linear television toward streaming platforms and YouTube. The individual said there was no expectation that Dokoupil would turn around the show’s flagging ratings within 16 weeks, and they believe his revamped show should be his ultimate priority and that it would continue an upward trajectory in the numbers compared to last year.
Still, they acknowledged there was no timetable for when those results may appear. It comes as competitors such as ABC News’ “World News Tonight” averaged 8.54 million viewers and roughly 1.1 million in the demo —more than double CBS News’ numbers — and NBC’s “Nightly News” averaged 6.17 million total viewers and 831,000 in the demo last week.
Weiss told staffers in January that ratings were not her ultimate measure of success.
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Hur Jin-ho’s historical thriller The Assassin(s) topped the Korean box office over the Chuseok holiday weekend pulling in more than 1.5 million admissions since its release on September 23.
Fresh from its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, the film has grossed $11.3M (KRW15.3BN) from 1,546,614 admissions over the first five days of release, according to data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). The Chuseok holiday officially ran for three days from Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 27.
Starring Lee Min-ho (Gangnam 1970), Park Hae-il (Decision To Leave), and Yoo Hai-jin (A Taxi Driver), The Assassin(s) revolves around the attempted assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee in 1974 that resulted in the death of the First Lady. A senior inspector (Yoo), veteran journalist (Park) and rookie reporter (Lee) set out to uncover exactly what happened and who was responsible, despite threats against their careers and their lives.
Coming in second over the holiday week (September 21-27) was Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub, a long-awaited sequel to a popular gambling franchise, which also opened on September 23 and took just over $6M from 813,842 admissions.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey took third place in the weekly chart, adding another $5M to it record-breaking tally from 565,696 admissions. Released on August 5, the film has grossed just over $98M from 11.7 million admissions in the Korean market, making it the biggest import of the year so far.
Warner Bros Korea’s The Intern, a remake of the 2015 hit Hollywood comedy, came in fourth with an additional $2.6M for a cumulative total of $5.5M since its September 16 release. The film stars Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee in the roles originally played by Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway in the original film.
Looking at figures for the entire week, The Intern was followed by US horror hit Obsession with $1.6M for a cume of $6.7M since its September 2 release. But looking solely at the weekend, Lee Chang-dong’s Venice winner Possible Love debuted in fifth position. Also opening on September 23, the Netflix-backed film, which is Korea’s official submission for Best International Feature at the Oscars, grossed around $1M in its first five days.
Historical drama The King’s Warden continues to hold Korea’s box office crown for the year to date, with box office of $120M from 16.9 million admissions; followed by The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day ($69M from 9 million admissions), and two titles that debuted at this year’s Cannes film festival: Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony and Na Hong-jin’s Hope.
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Benjamin Satterley, the high-flying champion wrestler known variously to AEW and WWE fans as Pac, Bastard, Adrian Neville and Neville, has died. That, according to an announcement from All Elite Wrestling. He was 40.
Details surrounding his passing are unclear. Pac was featured at AEW’s All Out pay-per-view from Chicago on Saturday night. He challenged Andrade El Idolo for the AEW National Championship, but lost.
The statement from AEW reads in part, “A native of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Satterley began his wrestling career in 2004 and went on to perform for wrestling organizations all over the world, captivating fans with innovative high-flying moves and incredible in-ring ability. Pac signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2019 and held multiple AEW Championships and competed in some of the most memorable matches in AEW history. Our condolences go out to Satterley’s family, friends and fans.”
In the AEW, Satterley was the outfit’s All-Atlantic Champion and a two-time World Trios Champion.
He won the NXT Championship in the WWE’s developmental adjunct and later became a two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Satterley was known as “The Man that Gravity Forgot” for his signature finishing move, a spectacular corkscrew shooting star press off the top rope. You can see it in the video below.
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It was like 1998 all over again. Madonna won six Video Music Awards that year for Ray of Light.
Flash forward to tonight, and the pop icon won seven awards, including Artist of the Year, for Confessions II, the sequel to her 2005 album.
Also winning were Sabrina Carpenter for Best Editing and for her collab with the Material Girl on “Bring Your Love.” The duo appeared onstage together to accept.
Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia” and Best Director for “Opalite,” as well as a special “Artist Director” honor.
Full Winners List
VIDEO OF THE YEAR (presented in show)
Taylor Swift – “The Fate of Ophelia” – Republic Records
ARTIST OF THE YEAR (presented in show)
Madonna – Warner Records
BEST COLLABORATION (presented in show)
Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter – “Bring Your Love” – Warner Records
BEST DANCE, presented by BACARDÍ® Rum (presented in show)
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film” – Warner Records
BEST NEW ARTIST, presented by The General Insurance® (presented in show)
Sienna Spiro – Capitol Records
BEST POP (presented in show)
LISA – “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi” – Lloud Co. / RCA Records
SONG OF THE YEAR
BTS – “Swim” – BIGHIT MUSIC
BEST HIP-HOP
Cardi B ft. Kehlani – “Safe” – Atlantic Records
BEST R&B
Bruno Mars – “I Just Might” – Atlantic Records
BEST ALTERNATIVE
Olivia Rodrigo – “the cure” – Geffen Records
BEST LATIN
Bad Bunny – “NUEVAYoL” – Rimas Entertainment
BEST K-POP
BTS – “SWIM” – BIGHIT MUSIC
BEST COUNTRY
Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas” – Columbia Records
BEST DIRECTION
Taylor Swift – “Opalite” – Republic Records
BEST ART DIRECTION
PinkPantheress – “Stateside + Zara Larsson” – Warner Records UK / Atlantic Records
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film” – Warner Records
BEST EDITING
Sabrina Carpenter – “House Tour” – Island
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film” – Warner Records
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Ariana Grande – “hate that i made you love me” – Republic Records
SOCIAL CATEGORIES:
BEST GROUP
BTS
BEST LONG FORM VIDEO
Madonna – “Confessions II – The Film” – Warner Records
BEST ALBUM
Madonna – Confessions II – Warner Records
SONG OF SUMMER –
Ariana Grande – “hate that i made you love me” – Republic Records
SPECIAL AWARDS:
VIDEO VANGUARD – Nirvana
MTV VMA ARTIST DIRECTOR HONORS – Taylor Swift
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