Report: Tony Dokoupil Named Lead Candidate For CBS Evening News

CBS News' Tony Dokoupil

CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil is the leading internal candidate to replace Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson as anchor of CBS Evening News, multiple sources tell Status.

The 44-year-old Dokoupil has emerged as the frontrunner as new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss seeks to stabilize the flagship broadcast after the DuBois-Dickerson duo delivered disappointing ratings and will exit the desk later this month—less than a year after taking over from Norah O’Donnell.

O’Donnell, 51, who stepped down as Evening News anchor earlier this year, remains with the network in a contributor role but is not in contention for a return, insiders say.

DuBois, 60, announced his departure this week, while Dickerson, 57, revealed his exit in October—just days after Weiss, the 41-year-old founder of the anti-woke Free Press, was installed as editor-in-chief by new Paramount owner David Ellison.

Ellison, 42, son of billionaire Trump supporter Larry Ellison, completed an $8 billion acquisition of Paramount over the summer and quickly moved to overhaul CBS News leadership.

Weiss had reportedly pursued high-profile external hires such as Fox News’ Bret Baier and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, but both remain under contract elsewhere, leaving the network turning inward, with Dokoupil now the preferred choice among current CBS talent.

Dokoupil's career kicked off as a senior writer for Newsweek and The Daily Beast from 2007 to 2013, where he tackled topics like digital privacy and marijuana legalization. He joined NBC News in 2013 as a senior writer and MSNBC reporter before switching to CBS News in August 2016 as a New York-based correspondent. 

There, he contributed to CBS Sunday Morning with features on public school teachers' struggles, suicide prevention, and rehab programs for pilots—earning acclaim for blending hard-hitting journalism with human interest.