Tears at CBS News as Beloved Producer Is Abruptly Fired Amid Rocky, Blooper-Ridden Revamp of the ‘Evening News’

Staffers at CBS News faced fresh turmoil after the No. 2 producer of the “CBS Evening News,” Javier Guzman, was abruptly fired after Wednesday night’s broadcast, further clouding the network’s revamp of its beleaguered news program. CBS debuted its revamped “Evening News” on Monday, with hopes that the latest iteration of the show — hosted by a former morning host, Tony Dokoupil — would boost its ratings. However, the first week of the revamp has been marred by bloopers, a controversial segment on the anniversary of the January 6 riot at the Capitol, a much-mocked “salute” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “the ultimate Florida man,” and criticism of Mr. Dokoupil growing emotional while talking about his home state of Florida. On Wednesday night, fresh confusion was injected into the newsroom as a media reporter for the Guardian, Jeremy Barr, reported that Mr. Guzman was fired after the broadcast. Mr. Barr reported that it was “unclear” what the rationale was for Mr. Guzman’s firing, but said the timing was “obviously not ideal with Tony Dokoupil on a cross-country tour right now,” and during the first week of the revamp. Sources told the Wrap that Mr. Guzman was fired due to disagreements with the executive producer of the “Evening News,” Kim Harvey, and not due to the rocky rollout. Staffers at CBS were “in tears” during the morning editorial call on Thursday and demanded to know why Mr. Guzman was fired, the Wrap reported.The Independent reported that Mr. Guzman was fired by CBS News senior executives not due to the revamp’s bloopers but due to “irreconcilable differences” between him and his immediate boss, the executive producer of the “Evening News,” Kim Harvey.If that is so, the timing – at a time when every small move within CBS News is coming under scrutiny – is highly unusual. Mr. Guzman’s departure comes as the ratings for Monday’s episode were released, showing that 4.4 million viewers tuned in. That marks an increase of roughly 500,000 viewers from when the show was hosted by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. The show also saw a 20 percent increase in the key 25-to-54-year-old demo. Network news observers say that any revamp will lead to a bump in ratings that usually dissipates. The bump for Mr. Dokoupil’s show is much smaller than the bump for Messrs. Dickerson’s and DuBois’ show, which soon became a ratings sinkhole and major embarrassment for the network.The hiccups in the relaunch have led to criticism of the editor-in-chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss, who had no broadcast television experience before she took the position. A CBS staffer told a left-wing media journalist, Oliver Darcy, that it is “no surprise” there have been embarrassing moments during the show’s launch since Ms. Weiss, Mr. Dokoupil, and Ms. Harvey are navigating new positions. Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that Mr. Dokoupil had little time to rehearse for the show and was “still writing his geopolitical commentary minutes before he went live.” By contrast, Mr. Dickerson and Mr. DuBois reportedly rehearsed for months before their first episode of the “Evening News” aired. Mr. Byers also reported that while left-wing commentators have been quick to point out every hiccup or awkwardly written segment, executives at CBS’s corporate parent, Skydance Media, may not be disappointed by Ms. Weiss’s management so far. “If you’re the perennial third-place, money-losing network, pivoting to a wide-open center-right lane with a digital media entrepreneur makes quite a bit of sense, particularly in America circa 2026. Of course, executing on that will take time: per CBS, Tony’s debut episode was up 9 percent in total viewership and 20 percent in the demo compared to previous Monday broadcasts,” he wrote. He added that David Ellison, the chief executive of Skydance, “could do without these headaches,” but speculated that the “drama is merely a minor nuisance.”Mr. Ellison told reporters in August, after Skydance acquired CBS, that he wanted to clean up the network’s left-wing bias so that Republicans and Democrats could feel comfortable watching it. Mr. Byers wrote that the rocky rollout of the new “Evening News” format may be embarrassing for now, but Mr. Ellison is unlikely to change course any time soon, believing that it will take some time for the new management of CBS to clean up the network while dealing with a newsroom known for ignoring management’s edicts. CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication._______________Bradley Cortright is the author of this article. An earlier version misstated the name of the author.

Tears at CBS News as Beloved Producer Is Abruptly Fired Amid Rocky, Blooper-Ridden Revamp of the ‘Evening News’

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