CBS News is launching a new live streaming show today, featuring its top political voice and one of its most important on-air personalities—John Dickerson.
The CBS News Streaming Network announced CBS News Prime Time with John Dickerson. The program will stream live weekly Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
The 2022 midterm election will be held in two months, so the timing of this show launch is no coincidence.
According to CBS, Dickerson “will provide insights and historical perspective to the day’s events, so that viewers have a deeper understanding of not just what is going on—but why it is and why it matters.”
In addition to anchoring the new primetime streaming show, Dickerson will continue to serve as a CBS News correspondent—and play an integral role on election nights and in breaking news coverage on CBS and all CBS News platforms.
“I couldn’t be more excited about John Dickerson joining the streaming program lineup. John looks at the world the way a historian does. He’s fantastic with bringing context— and explaining the why behind the news,” said CBS News chief Neeraj Khemlani. “When you think of prime time in general, there is so much opinion out there—and we’re fortunate to have a steward like John Dickerson anchoring a nightly show on our streaming channel to make sense of the day.”
CBS News Prime Time will be based at CBS News’ New York headquarters and Studio 57 at the CBS Broadcast Center, not at CBS Mornings’ Times Square studio.
“What CBS News has developed with streaming is a platform for the basic reason any of us get into journalism—the gift of getting to take the trust our viewers and readers give us and using that obligation to explore the world, figure out what is happening, why it’s happening and report back in proportion and the right order,” said Dickerson.
“I also love their experimental instincts on the streaming team, which I’ve tried to work on during my career. Leaving print to go into digital journalism in its early stage, starting a podcast 16 years ago when few knew what a podcast was. My hope for this show is that it will evolve like the medium and the news stories that we cover every day.”
While 6:30 p.m. has long served as the traditional linear evening newscast slot (at least on the East Coast), 7 p.m. has now emerged as the primetime streaming newscast slot. ABC has a live streaming newscast at 7 p.m. anchored by Linsey Davis, titled ABC News Live Prime. NBC has Tom Llamas anchoring Top Story at that time—and now CBS jumps into the 7 p.m. fray with a veteran voice in Dickerson leading the charge.