The heavily promoted CBS News town hall, moderated by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and featuring Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, has delivered disappointing ratings, according to early Nielsen data.
Significant Viewership Decline
Preliminary figures from Nielsen's Big Data + Panel measurement show the one-hour special, which aired on Saturday 14 December 2025 at 8 p.m. ET, attracted just 1.548 million total viewers. In the key advertising demographic of viewers aged 25 to 54, it drew only 237,000.
If these numbers hold, the event represents a 27 percent decline in total viewership compared to CBS's standard programming in that time slot year-to-date. The drop was even steeper in the key demographic, falling by 47 percent.
This performance is particularly striking given that CBS had a strong lead-in from the Army-Navy college football game, which pulled in 7.3 million viewers. The post-game show directly preceding the town hall still managed an audience of 3.5 million.
Network Spin and Staff Backlash
A network source offered a different perspective, arguing that compared to programming in recent weeks, the town hall was actually up by 16 percent in total viewers and 10 percent in the key demo. They also contended that the unfavourable year-to-date comparison was skewed by high-rated NCAA basketball games in March and April, which are not directly comparable to news programming.
However, the event has intensified existing internal criticism of Weiss's leadership. Since being installed by Paramount chief David Ellison in October with a mandate to scrutinise both political parties equally, Weiss's efforts to reshape CBS News have faced staff resistance.
Her decision to step in front of the camera as moderator was especially contentious. CBS News employees told The Independent the move was "embarrassing" and revealed "that all she really wants is to be on TV herself." One staffer called it "toe-curling" and questioned Ellison's $150 million investment in her leadership.
Limited Online and Advertising Impact
The town hall also failed to generate significant interest online. Despite a major promotional push across social media and previews on CBS Mornings, the full video had garnered only 105,000 views on the CBS News YouTube channel by publication time, a platform with nearly 7 million subscribers. The network noted that related social posts achieved 185 million views across its platforms.
Furthermore, Variety reported that blue-chip advertisers appeared wary. Commercial slots during the broadcast were largely filled by direct-response advertisers like SuperBeets, while the following hour's rerun of 48 Hours featured ads from major firms like Procter & Gamble and Amazon.
The broadcast, which featured Kirk fielding questions on life and political discourse after the assassination of her husband, activist Charlie Kirk, was taped three days prior. By its airing, Erika Kirk had already made six appearances on Fox News, where her segments often outdrew the CBS audience. Her guest host spot on The Five attracted 3.3 million viewers.
Critical reviews were unkind. MS NOW opinion editor Anthony Fisher called the event "deferential and incurious," arguing it "wasn't journalism, it was public relations." Despite the soft launch, Weiss concluded the town hall by promising viewers "many more conversations like this" in the future.
