In mid-December 2025, CBS News aired a town hall moderated by Bari Weiss featuring Erika Kirk, which resulted in disappointing viewership ratings. The event, which took place on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, garnered 1.548 million total viewers initially and reached 1.867 million after final numbers were released. While CBS noted an increase in viewers compared to recent weeks, the ratings reflected a decline of 11 percent in total viewership and 41 percent in the key advertising demographic of 25-54-year-olds, compared to the network's performance in that time slot earlier in the year. Additionally, the town hall followed a popular Army-Navy game, which attracted 7.3 million viewers, highlighting the disparity in interest between the two events. Despite promotional efforts, including social media marketing and extensive previews on CBS Mornings, the online engagement for the town hall was lackluster. The event managed to gather only 105,000 views on CBS News' YouTube channel, which has nearly 7 million subscribers. There were also 185 million views across CBS News' social platforms about the town hall. The overall perception among CBS News employees was critical, as many staff voiced embarrassment regarding Weiss's moderation of the event and expressed skepticism regarding its future viability. Following the poor performance of this town hall, CBS News announced a new series of town halls, titled 'Things That Matter', in partnership with Weiss's digital media outlet. This new series will commence with Vice President JD Vance participating, aiming to foster discussions in a divisive political landscape. The events are intended to appeal to a broad audience and will feature other moderators beyond Weiss to diversify the presentations. CBS News has signaled the importance of addressing America's political divides through civil discourse. However, the discontent surrounding Weiss's handling of the previous event and its inadequate ratings raise questions about CBS's editorial direction and Weiss's leadership. The initial response to Weiss's town hall and her vision for future programming will help determine if CBS can regain its viewership and credibility in an evolving media landscape.