Top of the Ticker: Tony Dokoupil’s stint as the latest CBS Evening News anchor officially began on Monday evening in the show’s New York studios and not on the road as previously planned. This was a result of the breaking news coverage dealing with the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, and their son by the U.S. military.
Monday’s edition of CBS Evening News was seen by 4.368 million total viewers and 596,000 Adults 25-54 viewers, according to data provided courtesy of Nielsen big data + panel. ABC World News Tonight with David Muir was the top evening news broadcast, averaging 8.238 million total viewers and 1.015 million A25-54 viewers, followed by NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas, averaging 7.207 million total viewers and 1.099 million A25-54 viewers.
Compared with the debuts of his most recent predecessors, Dokoupil’s premiere was down -18% in total viewers and -23% in the demo vs. the Jan. 27, 2025, debut of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. It was also down -22% in total viewers and -36% in the A25-54 demo when compared with the debut of Norah O’Donnell on July 15, 2019.
Meanwhile, there are reports of an unexpected reshuffling with the behind-the-scenes team, as Javier Guzman, a senior broadcast producer for the program, was let go after Wednesday’s broadcast.
Finally, CBS News announced Adriana Diaz and Kelly O’Grady as the new co-hosts of its Saturday morning news show, CBS Saturday Morning, beginning Saturday, January 10. Diaz, who has been with the network since 2012, most recently served as co-host of CBS Morning Plus, which was cancelled last year, and as anchor of the Saturday edition of CBS Weekend News. O’Grady, who joined the network in 2024, was most recently a MoneyWatch correspondent. Diaz and O’Grady take over from Michelle Miller and Dana Jacobson, who were part of the network’s layoffs announced in October.
On Saturday, Jan. 10, Adriana Diaz and Kelly O’Grady debut as co-hosts of “CBS Saturday Morning.”
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 9, 2026
Peacock free: Versant officially became an independent media company on Monday, January 5, completing its spin-off from Comcast. The new parent company of MS NOW, formerly MSNBC and CNBC, began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol VSNT. MS NOW and CNBC talent joined CEO Mark Lazarus in ringing the opening bell on Monday at Nasdaq’s Times Square headquarters. Shares of the company fell by 20% during the first two days; however, CNBC’s Alex Sherman noted, “Many indexes that own Comcast aren’t allowed to own Versant, so there is forced selling in these early days of the stock’s existence.”
