Tony Dokoupil Calls out “Big Problems Here” at his First Live Show on CBS
NEW YORK — Tony Dokoupil’s tenure as the new face of the CBS Evening News began with a turbulent start on Monday. In a broadcast intended to signal a fresh chapter for the network, the debut was instead disrupted by technical meltdowns and factual errors that immediately went viral on social media—moments the network seemingly attempted to scrub from history shortly after they aired.
“First Day, Big Problems Here” The 45-year-old anchor, who was promoted from CBS Mornings to the evening chair just last month, faced immediate hurdles during his first live broadcast. The most chaotic sequence occurred during a confused transition between news segments.
While attempting to pivot news topics, Dokoupil appeared visibly confused by the teleprompter and on-screen graphics. He began introducing a story on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, only to see a graphic for Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
“To other news, as you just heard from Jill, to other news now, to Gov. Walz,” Dokoupil began, before catching the error. “No, we’re gonna do Mark Kelly. First day, first day, big problems here.”
Smiling through the tension, he continued to troubleshoot live, asking his producers, “Uh, are we going to Kelly here? Or are we going to go to Jonah Kaplan?” The confusion resulted in several minutes of awkward silence.
The “Great Lakes” Gaffe The technical chaos was compounded by a geographic error later in the show. While discussing the Midwest, Dokoupil referred to Minnesota as “the Great Lakes State.”
Viewers were quick to point out that “The Great Lakes State” is the official nickname of Michigan, while Minnesota is famously known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” The mistake added fuel to online criticism, with many describing the debut as a “train wreck.”
CBS Scrubs the Errors Perhaps more notable than the errors themselves was the network’s swift reaction. Viewers who attempted to watch the CBS Evening News on the network’s website or YouTube channel minutes after the broadcast found a sanitized version.
The “controversial” segments, including the “Big problems here” outburst and the confusion over the news lineup, were edited out of the digital uploads. The re-shot and re-cut version presents a seamless broadcast that contradicts the live experience of millions of viewers. Dokoupil later addressed the on-air meltdown on social media, attributing the chaos to a “teleprompter error.”
A Rockier Start Than Promised The rough debut stands in stark contrast to Dokoupil’s pre-show promise. In a video message released shortly after his selection as evening host, Dokoupil pledged a viewer-first approach:
“So, here’s my promise to you, today and every time you see me in this chair: you come first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests, and yes that does include corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.”
With fellow anchors previously calling his appointment “insulting” and the network now actively editing his mistakes from the digital record, the pressure is on for Tony and his crew to prove they can deliver on that promise of transparency.
