John Dickerson, the veteran journalist and co-anchor of CBS Evening News, announced, that he will exit CBS News at the end of the year after 16 years with the network.
This move, communicated internally via an email to staff, comes amid sweeping changes at CBS under new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and the broader Paramount-Skydance merger, raising immediate speculation about the future of the network's flagship evening broadcast.
Dickerson's exit is described as a personal decision, with no immediate plans disclosed for his next chapter, though insiders praise his professionalism and anticipate a graceful transition.
Dickerson's departure appears self-initiated, with sources emphasizing it as a "personal choice" after a demanding year co-anchoring the revamped Evening News, which shifted to a dual-anchor, multi-correspondent model in January 2025 following Norah O'Donnell's exit.
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| John Dickerson |
The show has struggled with ratings—averaging under 4 million viewers nightly, trailing ABC's World News Tonight and NBC's Nightly News—amid cord-cutting and streaming competition. No severance or buyout details were mentioned, but the timing aligns with CBS's post-merger shakeup.
This news lands just as Bari Weiss, hired in October 2025 to "modernize" CBS News, ramps up her influence. Weiss has been aggressively scouting conservative talent from rivals like Fox News (e.g., Bret Baier) and CNN (e.g., Scott Jennings) to diversify the lineup and counter bias perceptions.
Insiders speculate Dickerson's exit could accelerate a full overhaul of Evening News, potentially installing a single high-profile anchor or folding it into streaming-first formats on Paramount+. CBS CEO Wendy McMahon has not commented publicly, but staff meetings are expected soon to address the "ensemble" format's viability.