CBS News anti-woke new boss is eyeing jewel in Fox News crown to take over troubled evening news show
The new editor-in-chief of CBS News wants Fox News anchor Bret Baier to helm the channel's flagship evening news program, network sources have revealed.
Bari Weiss floated The Special Report star's name along with several others during high-level talks meant to find a fresh face for the broadcaster after Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson stepped in for Norah O'Donnell in January, insiders told Status.
Ratings for CBS Evening News have dropped from 4.8 million to 4.1million since.
Weiss, 41, has begun 'quietly canvassing' the industry as a result, sources said.
The news comes after Weiss was minted as CBS News' chief on October 6 after 'informally consulting' the network for weeks, a source told The Daily Mail last month.
Skydance's merger with Paramount in July made way for her hiring. She resigned from The New York Times in 2021 to found the Free Press, which was purchased by Skydance Paramount CEO David Ellison this month for roughly $150 million.
After being named CEO, Ellison pledged to shed any prior political connotations that may be tied to the company after a string of controversies and claims of 'deceptive' editing practices from both Donald Trump and Homeland Security boss Kristi Noem.
His recent hire's gravitation toward Baier hints at where the network is headed under his ownership, with Weiss a fierce critic of legacy news.
Baier, meanwhile, is one of Fox News' main stars, having been with the network since 1998.
Fox News mainstay Bret Baier is reportedly being considered as the new anchor for 'CBS Evening News,' network sources told Status Thursday
CBS News' new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, floated the Special Report star's name during talks with other execs about a fresh face to fill the show's anchor chair
Baier signed a five-year contract extension in 2023. His contract runs through 2028. Sources told Status it is valued somewhere around $14 million a year.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Paramount for comment.
Paramount settled with Donald Trump for $16million in July after being sued a year ago following an October 2024 60 Minutes Kamala Harris interview the president alleged was edited to give her an edge in the presidential race.
In the spring, 60 Minutes Executive Producer Bill Owens and CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon both resigned over concerns with the company's direction.
Both were responsible for the January Evening News revamp that Weiss reportedly wants to rectify.
'It's a disaster,' a former CBS News exec told DailyMail.com in February after the dual-anchor setup was quickly met with waning ratings.
In August - a month after the Skydance merger - showrunners implemented another news strategy: keeping one anchor at the desk while sending the other more frequently into the field, insiders told Variety.
The show has continued to hemorrhage viewers despite the format changes. It remains well behind NBC Nightly News and frontrunner World News Tonight on ABC.
Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson stepped in for Norah O'Donnell back in January. The show has lost nearly a million viewers. The strategy was panned as a 'disaster'
Weiss is reportedly mulling brining back O'Donnell as well. She remains a correspondent at the network
Other anchors being considered by Weiss reportedly include Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings and the woman Dubois and Dickerson both replaced, five-year Evenings vet O'Donnell, who still works at the network as a senior correspondent.
She has also expressed interest in 'a handful' of other external candidates, sources told Status.
Weiss resigned from The New York Times in 2021 after claiming the paper fostered an 'illiberal environment'.
Ellison - the son of billionaire GOP donor Larry Ellison - has also hired the head of a conservative think tank to keep tabs on its complaints from consumers.
