Bari Weiss' Hyped Town Hall Ends in Ratings Disappointment

CBS News has taken a bold step in reshaping its programming with the introduction of high-profile town halls and debates, led by Bari Weiss, the network's newly appointed editor-in-chief. During a recent Saturday night event featuring Erika Kirk, Weiss promised viewers that there would be “many more conversations like this in the weeks and months ahead” on the network.

Weiss, known for her anti-woke stance and previous work at The New York Times, emphasized the importance of engaging in discussions about critical issues. However, the ratings for the event have raised questions about the audience's appetite for such programming.

According to Nielsen's final numbers, the one-hour CBS News town hall, which aired on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, attracted 1.867 million viewers overall and 265,000 in the key advertising demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54. While these numbers represent an increase from the initial reports, they still fell short compared to the network’s standard programming in that time slot year to date.

A network source highlighted that the town hall actually performed better than recent programming in terms of total viewership and the key demo, based on preliminary numbers. The source also mentioned that the event was up in both metrics compared to last week’s programming, adding that the current television season started in late September.

Despite the lower viewership, CBS claimed that the town hall outpaced the network’s season-to-date performance in the time slot by 32 percent in total viewership and 19 percent in the key demo. The source further noted that the decline in viewership might not be a direct comparison to news programming due to the inclusion of NCAA tournament basketball games from March and April in the year-to-date figures.

The low viewership is even more striking when considering that CBS drew a large audience for the annual Army-Navy game that afternoon, which attracted 7.3 million viewers. The post-game show, which served as a lead-in for the Kirk-Weiss chat, attracted 3.5 million viewers and 901,000 in the advertising demo.

Online, the interview didn’t attract significant interest either, despite the social media hype and preview airings on CBS Mornings. As of publication, the video of the event had only 105,000 views on CBS News’ YouTube channel, which has nearly 7 million subscribers. However, the network source noted that posts related to the town hall pulled in a total of 185 million views across CBS News social platforms.

Kirk, the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, had made multiple appearances on Fox News to promote her husband’s book before the CBS town hall. She used those appearances to criticize far-right provocateur Candace Owens for spreading conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s death. Owens, a former TPUSA communications director, had speculated that he was killed due to his shifting views on Israel and that TPUSA staffers may have been involved in his assassination.

Kirk’s appearances on Fox News, which caters to a conservative audience, outdrew the CBS town hall. For instance, her guest hosting spot on The Five pulled in 3.3 million viewers, while her co-hosting appearance on Outnumbered averaged a viewership of 1.6 million.

Since Paramount chief David Ellison installed her to lead the newsroom in October, Weiss has aimed to shake things up at the network. Her efforts, however, have faced criticism from much of the staff. This included her decision to serve as moderator for the town hall, which some found embarrassing and revealing of her desire to be on TV.

Variety reported that blue-chip advertisers were wary of airing their commercials during Weiss’ special, noting that CBS News hasn’t typically hosted “town halls or debates on trending issues or with newsmakers.” During the broadcast, commercial airtime was filled by direct-response advertisers, such as the dietary supplement SuperBeets.

The following hour, when a rerun of the investigative crime series 48 Hours aired, larger companies like Procter & Gamble and Amazon provided ads. Reviews for Weiss’ turn as a broadcast network moderator were less than kind, with critics calling the event “entirely deferential and incurious.”