Norah O’Donnell to Host CBS News Town Hall With Maryland Gov. Wes Moore
CBS News said on Thursday that special correspondent Norah O’Donnell will moderate a town hall with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the latest in its series that began with editor-in-chief Bari Weiss’ conversation with Erika Kirk.
The interview will be recorded in front of a live audience in Maryland, and O’Donnell will ask Moore about “the critical 2026 midterm elections and his vision for the future of the Democratic party,” according to the network. Unlike the Kirk town hall last month, which aired in a little-watched Saturday night time slot and debuted to poor ratings, the Moore conversation will air after the Feb. 15 “60 Minutes” broadcast, indicating the network hopes to capitalize on the generally high ratings of its marquee program.
CBS News announced last month that the network would partner with Weiss’ other outlet, The Free Press, on a town hall series titled “Things That Matter” that will “feature the people in politics and culture who are shaping American life.” The series is sponsored by Bank of America.
Other upcoming conversations include ones with Vice President JD Vance and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, dates for which CBS will announce soon.
Also featured will be debates between Gen Z political activists Isabel Brown and Harry Sisson, dueling perspectives on feminism from Liz Plank and Allie Beth Stuckey, and Ross Douthat and Steven Pinker on whether America needs God.
Whether the conversations will amount to ratings wins remains to be seen. Weiss’ conversation with Kirk, which the network promoted widely throughout its programming, drew a mere 1.9 million viewers. While the event handily beat a Christmas special that ran the previous Saturday, the network was down 11% from its average total viewership and down 41% in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic for the year.
CBS also retained a fraction of the 7.3 million total viewers who watched the Army-Navy game that afternoon and the following post-game coverage, which drew 3.5 million and led into the conversation.
The Thursday announcement follows a busy week for the network, which saw Weiss lay out her vision for the network at an all-hands meeting on Tuesday and buyouts offered to multiple staffers at the revamped “CBS Evening News” on Wednesday.
During the all-hands, Weiss stressed that “winning isn’t about the ratings.” “It’s about making things that people can’t live without,” she said. “It’s about creating content captivating enough to ultimately make Paramount+ a necessity for every home.”
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