“CBS Mornings” anchor Gayle King will blast off into space Monday – as the show’s ratings sink to record lows.
The ratings stunt — in which King will take an 11-minute ride into orbit along with pop star Katy Perry and Lauren Sanchez, aboard her fiance Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin vessel — will do little to boost viewership because the show needs a major overhaul of its woke programming and lackluster anchors, industry experts told The Post.
“CBS Mornings” drew fewer than 2 million total viewers in each of the last two weeks of March, according to the most recent Nielsen ratings – falling farther behind rivals “GMA” and “Today.” Those shows pulled in 2.8 million and 2.6 million total viewers, respectively.
In 2017, when King co-hosted the show alongside anchors Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell, the perennially last-place program racked up an average of 3.6 million total viewers per week and was narrowing the gap on its rivals.
Ratings have fallen across the board over the past decade, but industry insiders pin part of the blame for the dramatic decline at “CBS Mornings” on the show’s “light” and “alienating” programming.
One of the sources pointed to a March 26 interview with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Bob the Drag Queen, who was publicizing his first novel, “Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert,” which the morning show’s website described as a “gender-bending story where the historic icon appears in modern-day America to tell her story through a hip-hop album.”
“That’s not what people want to watch. I don’t think if you’re programming for your audience you do things like that,” the person said.
“It’s become a niche New York show.”
Just as problematic is the lack of chemistry between King — who signed a one-year contract extension last year — and current co-anchors Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil, sources said.
Burleson, a former NFL player, “doesn’t have gravitas in news reporting” and Dokoupil comes off as “smug,” said a former morning show producer, likening them to “sidekicks.”
“CBS needs someone who’s an equal to Gayle. Neither of those two do that,” the source added.
A second source called Dokoupil “bland as a piece of white bread,” despite his fiery interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates in October, in which he grilled the author over his pro-Palestinian framing of Hamas’ war with Israel.
The source said the exchange showed Dokoupil’s passion and personality – which he rarely reveals on air.
A CBS insider refuted the criticism, saying: “Our team has the best chemistry in the mornings – on and off the air, period.”
CBS News did not respond to requests for comment.
Last month, CBS brass took a step in trying to remedy the ratings freefall, naming veteran morning show producer Tom Cibrowski as president of CBS News.
The former ABC News exec, who oversaw “GMA” during one of its most successful eras, has already made an impression on “CBS Mornings” staffers, a source with knowledge told The Post.
During his first week, Cibrowski came to the set at 6 a.m. and introduced himself to the crew, holding meetings with producers, including Thomas, who was said to be “ecstatic” about working with “someone who knows what he is doing,” the source said.
Still, he has his work cut out for him amid budget cuts at the network as CBS parent Paramount looks to close its stalled merger with Skydance Media.
“They have no money to hire new, good people, but Tom can change the quality of the work and the story selection,” the source said.
In the meantime, the show will turn its attention to live coverage of King’s foray into space, though execs shouldn’t expect earth-shattering ratings, another media observer told The Post.
“It’s a stunt. Why tune into the show? What are you going to miss?” the source said.
A second source quipped: “Lauren Sánchez’s best assets will be covered up in a spacesuit.”
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