Bari Weiss‘ first town hall since taking the reins at CBS was not a smashing success. There’s a decent chance that the only piece you caught of the Erika Kirk feature, which aired on Saturday, is the clip Charlie Kirk’s widow unblinkingly says she serves a just God. The town hall only attracted about 1.87 million viewers, per Variety, which is purportedly pretty solid for the time slot but low for CBS overall. Advertisers were also less-than-keen to support the town hall, with the trade noting that the segment was full of ads for SuperBeets, CarFax, Chia Pets, and other direct-response products. Even so, CBS has more of where that came from on the calendar.
This morning, CBS confirmed its intention to air more town halls and debates under the “Things That Matter” banner with the financial support of Bank Of America. For town halls, the station has J.D. Vance, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, and Sam Altman on the docket. It’s unclear whether Weiss will moderate these conversations as she did with Kirk. CBS has also set debates on the topics: “Does America Need God?” “Has Feminism Failed Women?” and “Should Gen Z Believe in the American Dream?” Steven Pinker and Ross Douthat will debate God, Liz Plank and Allie Beth Stuckey will debate feminism, and Isabel Brown and Harry Sisson will be the Gen Zs talking about the American dream.
“We believe that the vast majority of Americans crave honest conversation and civil, passionate debate,” says Weiss. “This series is for them. In a moment in which people believe that truth is whatever they are served on their social media feed, we can think of nothing more important than insisting that the only way to get to the truth is by speaking to one another.” The truth is not served on a social media feed but in a town hall moderated by Bari Weiss on CBS, of course.
