CBS News offering some ‘Evening News’ staffers buyouts

CBS News is offering an unspecified number of non-union staffers assigned to the “CBS Evening News” voluntary buyouts.

The news comes just a day after CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss held an “all hands” meeting that largely skirted around the issue of staffing. 

Layoffs or similar cuts have been widely expected — even after a 2025 wave of cuts swept through Paramount and CBS.

It’s not clear how many staffers were offered buyouts or what the terms of the buyouts were, though many such offers often include the employer continuing to pay out the employee’s salary for a set period of time. It can also include health care coverage or other benefits for a period as well.

At CBS News, select newsroom staffers, such as producers, do not work under a union deal. Writers and technical crew tend to be covered under collective bargaining agreements, however.

This could mean that a larger number of producers, who are key members of any TV newsroom and, among other things, head up coordinating editorial decisions such story order, how much time is devoted to a specific topic and other responsibilities. 

Quality producers are often sought-after commodities, so losing any could result in a great deal of skills and experiences walking out the door while also requiring some of those job functions to be taken over by either lower-cost replacements or other staffers. 

Weiss has repeatedly labeled her plans for CBS News as “startup” style, which many interpret as doing more with less while also being open to experimenting with alternative storytelling formats and production techniques. Weiss also labeled CBS News as “the best-capitalized media startup in the world,” at the Jan. 27, 2026, internal meeting, without specifying details.

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Paramount also paid a reported $150 million for Weiss’ commentary and analysis site The Free Press in October 2025, using a combination of cash and stock. It is also presumably paying Weiss to continue as editor of that publication, while CBS News is also likely paying her high-level salary commensurate with a high-level executive. 

The network also is also shelling out funds to continue to pay Tony Dokoupil to anchor “Evening News,” though his salary before and after the job switch was never publicly released, but estimates suggest it could be in the $2 million range.

The network has also inked several new deals for paid contributors to start appearing on its programs. These roles are not considered full time jobs, but, depending on the person’s expertise and name recognition, these deals can also be lucrative. 

So far, there has been no word if buyouts are coming to other parts of CBS News or if the division might pursue layoffs.