Tony Dokoupils first day as CBS Evening anchor | TV Shows

Tony Dokoupil’s first day as the anchor of the CBS Evening News didn’t go easily. 

The 45-year-old journalist launched his night program, “The CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil,” on Monday, January 5, at 6:30 p.m. EST. A video clip circulating on X, previously Twitter, confirmed that technical points occured as Tony was presenting the community’s night news. In the clip, there was a second when he was making an attempt to transition to a section about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, when an over-the-shoulder (OTS) graphic of Senator Mike Kelly, with the phrases “Senator Censured,” popped up instead. It also appeared like Tony could have been having issues with the teleprompter when he was studying his lede to the story, as properly as his wrap-up about Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro being out since his seize by Donald Trump

Dokoupil took a second to clarify why the errors have been occurring. He said, “First Day, Big Problems Here.” After that, he requested with a trace of frustration if they have been going to keep on Kelly or anchor toss to CBS News’ Jonah Kaplan.

There was a second of silence as a picture bundle of Kelly performed, seeming to trace at communication going on behind the scenes. Then, Dokoupil started reporting on the story of United States Secretary of War (previously recognized as the US Secretary of Defense) Pete Hegseth issuing a censure to a Democratic senator over his video urging service members to resist illegal orders.

Dokoupil completed the section and finally reported on Walz and as he went, “Now we go to Minnesota.” He went on to discuss about the news of Democratic politician saying he is not going to be searching for a third time period as governor.

Viewers reacted to the snippet of the technical points and expressed their criticisms, particularly of the current adjustments at CBS. One particular person said, “CBS News is crumbling at a record rate under Bari Weiss.”

A second said, “This happens when you create a new team without anyone who knows how to run a network news show.” Another said, “So in a span of 60 seconds, we have the inability to transition from one subject to another, four verbal flubs, The preset photo package keeps on going while he doesn’t know which subject is being covered, and then he repeats the Hedsgeth [sic] talking point about what Mark Kelly said. That didn’t take long.”

A fourth said, “What in the newsroom is this. From the set to the dysfunction lol.” A fifth said, “Felt bad for him lol.”

Paramount (then Paramount Global and now Paramount Skydance) is the father or mother company of CBS. Skydance Media, based by David Ellison, merged with Paramount Global in August 2025, changing into Paramount Skydance.

The merger appeared to carry about a change for CBS, as Bari Weiss was announced as the CBS News editor-in-chief back in October. Ellison chosen the controversial journalist for the place as half of a deal in which the community acquired Weiss’s company, The Free Press.

Dokoupil’s new place comes as he spent six years co-anchoring CBS Mornings alongside Gayle King and Nate Burleson. He has been working with the community since 2016.