Tony Dokoupil’s Trump Interview Delivers 4.3 Million Viewers on CBS

Tony Dokoupil’s interview with President Donald Trump scored a slightly average audience for CBS News.

As the newly appointed “CBS Evening News” anchor interviewed Trump from a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan on Jan. 13, the interview scored delivered 4.3 million viewers and 657,000 in the 25-54 demographic as it aired at 6:30 p.m. ET CT on CBS. It marked a 7% uptick from the 2025-26 season-to-date average in viewers, and a 33% increase in the demo.

Covering Iran, the economy and fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump said he would “take very strong action” should Iranian authorities hang anti-government protesters as reports have suggested.

The interview, which drove 18 million views on social media, also featured the President saying Dokoupil would not have his job had he not been elected. It also made headlines after audio surfaced of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt threatening to sue CBS News again if the news organization didn’t air the interview in full.

The interview with Trump happened rather early into Dokoupil’s tenure as “CBS Evening News” host, with the new host replacing John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois at the start of January. Dokoupil’s first week, Jan. 5-11, saw “CBS Evening News” averaged 4.17 million viewers and 533,000 viewers in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen big data plus panel live-plus-same-day figures.

Ratings were down 23% in both measures compared to the same week last year and were also down compared to the debut of Dickerson and DuBois during the week of Jan. 27, 2025, with total viewers for Dokoupil down 15% while demo viewers saw a 19% downtick. though both weeks used for comparison, however, marked a turbulent 2025 news cycle amid the California wildfires and Trump’s inauguration.

Still, Dokoupil’s first week surpassed season-to-date averages for both measures, with total viewers up 4% and demo viewers up 8%, and compared to the week of Dec. 29, which saw “Evening News” average 4.05 million viewers and 486,000 viewers, Dokoupil’s first week was up 3% in total viewers and 10% in demo viewers.

“CBS Evening News” saw some growth in Dokoupil’s second week, with the broadcast averaging 4.2 million viewers — up 1% from the previous week —and 584,000 in 25-54 demo — a 10% uptick that pushed the show to its best demo measurement this season. Additionally, the broadcast was up 2% in total viewers and 9% in the demo compared to the previous four-week average.

Together, “CBS Evening News” averaged 4.2 million viewers and 558,000 demo viewers across its first two weeks with Dokoupil heading up the show, marking a 4% and 13% increase, respectively, when compared to the 2025-26 season-to-date average.

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