That was approximately 300,000 more viewers than Dokoupil averaged during July.
Even more striking, the performance reportedly represented the highest-rated week for CBS Evening News since March.
The comparison comes at a particularly awkward moment for Dokoupil, 45, who was brought in as part of CBS News’ latest attempt to rebuild its struggling flagship evening broadcast.
July reportedly became his weakest month since taking over the program in January.
Dokoupil also hasn’t managed to push his average audience above four million viewers since March — a troubling benchmark considering the network was hovering around that level before he took over.
Then his vacation replacement cleared it.
CBS Veteran Questions Dokoupil’s Vacation
Dokoupil’s decision to take two weeks off has also attracted criticism from television industry veterans.
One executive questioned why an anchor trying to establish himself with viewers would disappear for an extended vacation while his program was still fighting to regain ground.
“Everyone is entitled to a vacation, but when you are trying to build an audience and fighting to right a failing ship, taking a two-weeker is a head-scratcher.
“Makes you wonder if Dokoupil has given up.”
Another television executive offered an even more brutal assessment after Gutman’s numbers arrived.
“Never seen this before,” the executive said, calling the situation “another dagger in Tony’s neck” and “baffling.”
The timing arguably made Dokoupil’s absence even more costly.
ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir was reportedly away during part of the same period, potentially giving CBS an unusual opening to attract viewers from its dominant competitor.
Instead, Dokoupil wasn’t there to capitalize.
The source characterized his vacation as a “missed opportunity.”
“And his substitute outclassed him in the ratings,” the executive added.
CBS Insiders Push Back
Not everyone at CBS is ready to blame Dokoupil.
Network insiders reportedly argued that Gutman’s stronger showing was primarily driven by a particularly active news cycle rather than a sudden viewer preference for the substitute anchor.
“The week of 7/27 just generated more news.”
That explanation may offer Dokoupil some breathing room, but it doesn’t erase the broader problem confronting CBS Evening News.
The network has spent months trying to overhaul its news operation as ratings pressure continues.
CBS previously experimented with a two-anchor Evening News format, but that strategy proved disastrous.
The arrangement reportedly cost the broadcast more than 1.2 million viewers before executives abandoned it.
Dokoupil was subsequently moved over from CBS Mornings as the network searched for another formula capable of rebuilding the audience.
At the time, CBS Evening News was still attracting approximately four million viewers — reportedly regarded by some inside the company as a crucial floor for the broadcast.
Dokoupil has struggled to consistently reach it.
Bari Weiss Faces Growing Pressure
The ratings headache also puts additional scrutiny on CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
Weiss was brought aboard following Paramount chief executive David Ellison’s takeover, with the network looking to broaden its audience and strengthen its digital operation.
Dokoupil became one of the most visible pieces of that overhaul.
Gutman, 48, was another early Weiss hire after his departure from ABC News.
Now, however, the substitute anchor’s immediate ratings success has created an uncomfortable comparison with the man Weiss selected to lead CBS Evening News.
And frustration inside the network reportedly isn’t limited to Dokoupil.
Some CBS employees are beginning to direct their criticism higher up the chain.
“The problem is clearly Bari. We are all trying to clean this up, but we need Ellison’s help.”
For a network already undergoing major changes, the numbers create another problem that executives will have to explain.
Dokoupil was supposed to help stabilize one of America’s best-known evening broadcasts.
Instead, CBS just experienced its strongest week in months while he was sitting on the sidelines.
Whether Gutman’s ratings bump was simply the product of a busy news week or evidence of something more serious remains an open question.
But for Dokoupil, there is no escaping the uncomfortable headline:
His temporary replacement showed up — and immediately attracted a bigger audience.
