US EditionCBS News and The Free Press Launch Series of Town Halls and Debates: An Early Look at What's Ahead
The series addresses key issues shaping American life with participants like Vice President JD Vance and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, backed by Bank of America sponsorship.
- Yesterday, CBS News announced a primetime town hall and debate series called Things That Matter, with Bari Weiss saying, `We believe that the vast majority of Americans crave honest conversation and civil, passionate debate.`
- The Weiss-moderated town hall on Saturday averaged 1.87 million viewers and 265,000 in the 25-54 demo, a 11% and 41% decline respectively versus 2025 averages, Nielsen reports.
- CBS says U.S. Vice President JD Vance will participate in town halls, with debates on topics like `Should Gen Z Believe in the American Dream?` featuring Isabel Brown and Harry Sisson.
- Paramount Skydance's acquisition of The Free Press earlier this year and Bari Weiss, editor-in-chief of CBS News, make the series a key part of CBS News' editorial direction, with Bank of America as title sponsor.
- Despite social-media traction, the pilot left CBS News staff uneasy as it generated nearly 200 million social-media views despite mixed ratings; the series will air in the 2025-26 TV season and start in early 2026.
11 Articles
11 Articles
CBS launches town hall series featuring JD Vance following Bari Weiss’ ratings flop
Following the Bari Weiss-moderated sitdown with Erika Kirk that was a massive ratings flop, CBS News has doubled down on the format and is launching a new town hall series in partnership with Weiss’ “anti-woke” digital media outlet that the network’s parent company recently purchased.
Bari Weiss Will Capitalize On First Loser Town Hall By Doing MORE Loser Town Halls!
It turns out that Bari Weiss is bad at everything. Shockingly, being an uninteresting contrarian with no nose for news, zero discernible personality, and a perpetual stick up your ass about all the things in the beginning of this sentence don’t quite equip you to be the editor-in-chief of CBS News, the network that used to be home to Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. Oh, and she isn’t very good on TV, which sucks, since it turns out all she …
Los Angeles Times
CBS News commits to more town hall and debate telecasts with a major sponsor
Vice President JD Vance will be among the featured newsmakers for the series.
CBS News And The Free Press Plan Series Of Town Halls And Debates; JD Vance, Sam Altman And Wes Moore Among Those Slated
CBS News and The Free Press are teaming for a series of town halls and debates in the new year, following an Erika Kirk event from last week. The series will be called Things That Matter, with a town hall with Vice President JD Vance expected to air in early 2026. Other town halls will […]
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