Dickerson provides deeper look at top stories in streaming show
For CBS News political analyst John Dickerson, the future of TV news has started.
Dickerson was named host of “CBS News Prime Time,” a daily live program that recently premiered on the CBS News Streaming platform, a free adsupported service that supplies news 24 hours a day.
Dickerson is the first top-tier star at CBS News to anchor a live program since the service was relaunched in January. Until now, the biggest names on the network such as “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell and “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King have taped weekly shows for the platform.
Since joining CBS News as an analyst in 2009, Dickerson has gone on to be moderator of the network’s Sunday roundtable program “Face the Nation,” filled a co-host role on “CBS This Morning” after Charlie Rose was fired in 2017 and served as a contributor to “60 Minutes.”
Dickerson’s program, called “CBS News Prime Time,” streams live Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern time. It’s available on demand afterward. Dickerson remains as a CBS News correspondent and will continue to have a presence during special events and breaking news coverage.
“CBS News Prime Time” will be less of a digest of the day’s events and go deeper into top stories with longer conversations and historical perspective, a specialty for Dickerson, who has written two books about the presidency.
“He’s fantastic with bringing context, and explaining the why behind
the news,” said Neeraj Khemlani, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations. “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.”
Dickerson joins a growing number of familiar TV news personalities who are logging more hours on their organizations’ streaming platforms.
The daily version of “Meet the Press” with Chuck Todd recently moved from cable channel MSNBC to the streaming service NBC News Now. Tom Llamas has helmed a nightly newscast on NBC News Now since last fall.
NBC News Now also recently started being simulcast on the NBC broadcast network, with a live hour for the service presented in the daytime. The hour is replacing “Days of Our Lives,” which moved to NBC’s streaming service Peacock.
ABC News is also expected to put its big-name talent on programs for its ABC News Live streaming channel.
The shift of news talent to streaming is driven by the need to reach younger viewers who are no longer
watching traditional
TV. Unlike cable news channels, the broadcast networks streaming news channels are free, available as apps and on adsupported platforms such as Pluto TV and Tubi.
For Dickerson, making a major commitment to the company’s digital platform was not a jarring prospect. A former print journalist, he was an early adopter in the podcast business, joining Slate’s popular “Political Gabfest” in 2005. He also hosts a Slate podcast about the presidency called “Whistlestop.”
Dickerson moves to streaming with an understanding that he has license to cover stories that might not get significant time on a typical TV newscast.
“They’ve got flexibility,” he said in a recent interview. “You just have a little more space and room to run with it a little bit. So there is something inviting about having some new challenges and new opportunities through the medium that definitely felt consistent with when I went to Slate, when I started the ‘Gabfest.’ I have been pretty influenced by the idea that the form can change and people can get drawn into that relationship with content in new ways.”