CBS News is facing more embarrassment after an image of an “experimental” set for a “Whiskey Fridays” on the “CBS Evening News” was leaked online. 

Earlier this week, a left-wing outlet, Zeteo, published an image – taken by an anonymous tipster inside CBS’s storied broadcast center – of the legendary CBS News anchor desk with a backdrop that made it look like it was in a mahogany-lined bar with barstools and decanters. It included signage that said, “Whiskey Fridays With Tony Dokoupil.” A separate panel read, “Sponsored by Jack Daniel’s.” Zeteo claimed that the set was developed for a segment on the “CBS Evening News.” 

The Tiffany Network has admitted that the set (what’s believed to be an image of the bar electronically added to a screen behind the anchor desk) exists, but pushed back on the claim that the set was being created for a “CBS Evening News.”  

A representative for the network told the Sun that it is “simply an experimental mockup the graphics team created with placeholder text for a potential non-televised, in-person private event.” The parent company of Jack Daniel’s, Brown-Forman, said that it does not have any sponsorship deals. 

The image of the set led to mockery of the network, one user wrote, “Amazing that even Jack Daniel’s was like ‘do not involve us in this dork sh—.’”

A left-wing commentator, Katherine Krueger, wrote, “This is so funny. I’ve watched one broadcast and Dokoupil’s disdain for jug-hooting Trump’s America is so obvious.”

“Walter Cronkite cried on air for this channel once,” another user said. 

While CBS insists the set is “not a real story,” Puck’s Dylan Byers reports that a “well-placed CBS source” said that the backdrop was designed as part of “an audience engagement idea,” where Mr. Dokoupil will “engage directly with viewers in person after the show on Fridays.”

Mr. Byers wrote that the source told him there “might be some ‘interaction’ with the branding during the show’s final block, suggesting there’s interest in having a corporate sponsor underwrite a portion of the broadcast.”

Besides the mockery that Zeteo’s report sparked around the graphic, the portion of the mock Jack Daniel’s sponsorship has led to anxiety in CBS’s newsroom, Mr. Byers reports. 

“Such overt corporate sponsorship is, they say, a violation of the basic principles of journalism and undermines the brand’s integrity. ‘At this point, how about whiskey everyday?’ one network insider quipped,” Mr. Byers wrote. 

While the idea of corporate sponsorship is roiling the newsroom, other television programs and networks have drifted toward sponsorship-models, such as ESPN’s “College GameDay Built by the Home Depot.” Meanwhile, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today” have sponsored segments with product recommendations. The later hours of morning news programming (after the 7 am hour ends) have traditionally been held to lower standards of daytime TV programming.

In perhaps a closer comparison to the “Evening News,” popular podcasts often have corporate sponsors, with deals where the hosts will tout their products. 

And going back to the 1950s, news outlets had corporate sponsors for some programs. The Alcoa aluminum company sponsored Walter Cronkite’s “See It Now.” NBC’s John Cameron Swayze hosted the “Camel News Caravan” and smoked on air.

In the decades since, journalists have grown weary of the idea of corporate sponsors due to concerns about the sponsors trying to influence editorial decisions. 

However, media insiders say that linear television is in an irreversible decline, which could make it harder for networks to convince advertisers to pay for ads as more Americans cut the cord. 

Last year, CBS News held a town hall event with Erika Kirk that lacked prestigious advertisers, such as Amazon. Instead, the commercial breaks were filled with lower-paying advertisements for products such as Chia Pets, which are more likely to advertise on conservative news programming than liberal Madison Avenue-represented businesses. The town hall likely suffered from airing at what is typically one of the least-watched time slots.

But Mr. Byers suggests that in time, networks will face similar struggles across the board as their audiences continue to dwindle and companies look for more incentives to cough up advertising money for those slots. 

The mockery of the backdrop and the fact that it got leaked adds to a rocky rollout of Mr. Dokoupil’s tenure at the “Evening News,” which has been marred by teleprompter mistakes, an awkward on-air “salute” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and a clip of Mr. Dokoupil becoming emotional while discussing his home state of Florida, which has been widely ridiculed. 

While media insiders often expect that a highly advertised rollout of a new show or new anchor will lead to a large bump in ratings, Mr. Dokoupil’s first week averaged 4.2 million viewers last week, down 23 percent compared to the same time last year in total viewers and in the coveted 25 –54-year-old demo. 

Throughout the week, the program lost viewers, and Friday’s episode drew in just 3.8 million viewers, down 15 percent from the start of the week.

CBS News was not the only network to see lower ratings last week. NBC News and ABC News’ ratings were both down nine percent compared to the same time last year. Last year, the networks were carrying coverage of the wildfires in California that devastated large swaths around Los Angeles and were preparing for the second inauguration of President Trump.