Story perspectives

Hasselbeck guest hosts CBS Mornings to boost ratings

6/12/2026

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Summary

Hasselbeck Guest-Hosts

Elisabeth Hasselbeck began a guest-host stint on CBS Mornings Monday, covering the 8 a.m. slot through Wednesday to boost ratings.
She will appear only in cultural and entertainment segments, not political news.
Hasselbeck co-hosts with Gayle King, Nate Burleson, Vladimir Duthiers and Adriana Diaz, replacing Tony Dokoupil.
Tony Dokoupil moved to anchor CBS Evening News after Bari Weiss appointed him, whose tenure draws criticism and was called disastrous by Steve Kroft.

Summary

CBS Ratings Slump

CBS Mornings averaged 1.69 million viewers for the five days ending June 5.
Its 25-to-54 audience was only 285,000, far below Today’s 2.98 million and Good Morning America (GMA)’s 2.7 million.
Guest-host Bari Weiss says the rotation aims to broaden ideological diversity after recent executive shake-ups.
The network hopes adding guests like former NFL player Jordan Hasselbeck, who lacks a journalism background, will halt the ratings decline.

History

Historical Context

After decades of third-place ratings, CBS announced on Dec 1 2011 that a hard-news-focused “CBS This Morning” would replace The Early Show on Jan 9 2012, led by executive producer Chris Licht and anchors Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell. The debut week drew 2.72 million viewers, and the 2013 anchor refresh aimed to improve ratings, reinforcing the network’s pattern of lineup overhauls to chase viewership.

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Hasselbeck Guest-Hosts

Elisabeth Hasselbeck began a guest-host stint on CBS Mornings Monday, covering the 8 a.m. slot through Wednesday to boost ratings.
She will appear only in cultural and entertainment segments, not political news.
Hasselbeck co-hosts with Gayle King, Nate Burleson, Vladimir Duthiers and Adriana Diaz, replacing Tony Dokoupil.
Tony Dokoupil moved to anchor CBS Evening News after Bari Weiss appointed him, whose tenure draws criticism and was called disastrous by Steve Kroft.

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