Bari Weiss' Town Hall Dumps Ratings as CBS News Editor Debuts On-Screen

Bari Weiss' CBS Town Hall Special Faces Mixed Ratings

Bari Weiss, the newly appointed editor in chief of CBS News, faced a challenging debut with her first town hall special featuring Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The event, which aired at 8 p.m. on Saturday, saw a significant drop in viewership compared to previous ratings.

According to preliminary Nielsen ratings data released Tuesday, the special averaged 1.5 million viewers — a 20% decline from the year-to-date average for that time slot. This hour previously featured a third hour of “48 Hours.” For the crucial 25- to 54-year-old demographic, the ratings plummeted by 44%, reaching 237,000 viewers.

However, final Nielsen numbers showed some improvement, with the special attracting 1.9 million viewers and 265,000 in the key demographic. Despite this, the event still fell short compared to the network’s standard programming in that time slot, dipping 10% in total viewership and 41% in the 25- to 54-year-old group.

On YouTube, the hour-long sitdown with Kirk garnered just 109,000 views as of Tuesday evening.

CBS highlighted in its press release that the broadcast outperformed the network’s season-to-date performance in the Saturday 8:00 p.m. time period by 32% in viewers and 19% in the demo. Compared to last week’s entertainment holiday special in the same time slot, the town hall was up 63% in viewers, 35% in the 25-54 demo, and 6% among viewers aged 18 to 49.

The town hall also achieved 185 million views across TikTok, Facebook, X, and Instagram, making it CBS News’ most-watched interview ever on social media, according to the network.

Despite these figures, Kirk's appearances on Fox News last week drew an average of 2 million viewers. Her guest-hosting stint on “The Five” delivered 3.3 million viewers during the 5 p.m. ET time slot on Tuesday.

Weiss’ town hall marked her first appearance on a CBS broadcast since taking the helm of the storied but struggling news network in October. Insiders noted that it is unusual for top executives at news stations to appear on their own networks, let alone conduct high-profile interviews. The special aired amid breaking news coverage of the Brown University mass shooting.

Weiss was brought in by Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to revamp the network and introduce an anti-woke centrist perspective to CBS News’ left-leaning reporting. As part of the deal, Ellison also acquired Weiss’ new site, The Free Press, for $150 million.

Variety reported on Sunday that Weiss’ Kirk special had a limited number of mainstream advertisers. During the hour, commercial breaks were largely filled with spots from direct-response advertisers, including the dietary supplement SuperBeets; the home-repair service HomeServe.com; and CarFax, a supplier of auto ownership data.

Still, the network managed to secure some conservative sponsors, which is rare for the network. These included the Heritage Foundation, Hallow, a mobile app for Christian prayer, “David,” a new animated film from Angel Studios, which specializes in faith-based content, and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

A few more mainstream advertisers such as Spotify and TikTok also purchased commercials.