Moving from the table to the desk, Tony Dokoupil has been selected as the new anchor for CBS Evening News. The 44-year-old broadcast journalist was a news correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC before becoming a co-host for CBS Mornings in 2019, where he sat alongside Gayle King, Nate Burleson, and Vladimir Guthiers. He will replace veteran newscaster Maurice DuBois, whose last day on CBS Evening News will be December 18, and make his debut near the start of the new year.
Tony Dokoupil to lead CBS Evening News in January
CBS announced on Wednesday, December 10, that Tony Dokoupil will lead CBS Evening News beginning January 5, 2026, with the program airing weekdays at 6:30 PM ET on CBS and Paramount+.
Bari Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS News selected by Paramount CEO David Ellison in October, had reportedly been eyeing various candidates for the role. This includes Fox News anchor Bret Baier, as reported by Mediate, and even CNN’s Anderson Cooper, according to Puck, before he signed a new deal with the network.
Despite looking at possible candidates outside of the network, CBS settled on Dokoupil for what amounts to an internal promotion. He has familiarity with viewers through CBS Mornings and has experience interviewing influential figures, like JD Vance, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Gates. Given that Weiss has an openly pro-Israel stance, his conversion to Judaism back in 2014, which he discussed in a lengthy piece at The New Republic, would have likely been considered as well.
During the first month in his new role, which was once filled by beloved newscaster Walter Kronkite, Dokoupil will be making a cross-country tour of America to meet viewers where they are.
“After 20 years in journalism, traveling through all 50 states and talking with people in hundreds of far-flung American places, I realize why a country this big needs a show this ambitious,” he said in a statement. “For more than 60 years, the ‘Evening News’ has been a bedrock of that process. I’m honored to join a fearless team at this important moment, and with what I can promise is a commitment to trust and the plain truth.”
Weiss believes that Dokoupil has what it takes to make Americans regain their trust in traditional media. A Pew Research study released in October revealed that only 56% of U.S. adults say that have a lot of or some trust in the information they get from national news organizations, which is down 20 points since 2016.
“We live in a time in which many people have lost trust in the media,” Weiss noted. “Tony Dokoupil is the person to win it back. That’s because he believes in old-school journalistic values: asking the hard questions, following the facts wherever they lead and holding power to account.”
Still, it will be a tough seat for the him to fill given heated competition from other networks, including ABC’s “World News Tonight” with David Muir, “NBC Nightly News” featuring Tom Llamas, and other nightly programming from CNN, Fox News, and MS NOW. Americans, especially those under the age of 30, are also more likely to get their news from non-linear programming, like social media, podcasts, and YouTube.
Dokoupil’s promotion comes amid a significant shake-up at CBS News, as its parent company Paramount merges with Skydance Media. Earlier this week, it was reported that journalist Matt Gutman from ABC would be moving to CBS, with speculation that he would be part of the overhaul on CBS Evening News. However, with Dokoupil stepping into that position, it’s unclear what role Gutman will be taking. Also, it’s been rumored that Gayle King will be making her exit at CBS Mornings at the end of her contract in May 2026 to step into another role.
