CBS Announces New Morning Show Format, Anchors

CBS News teased the new look, feel and lineup for CBS Mornings, which will take over for CBS This Morning starting next week. The production is keeping Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil as co-anchors and adding Nate Burleson as well, all in a brand new studio in New York City’s Times Square. The hosts themselves made the announcement on Tuesday.

CBS Mornings launches on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and it’s new look comes with some familiar branding. The show is meant to tie the weekday morning show more closely to the beloved CBS Sunday Morning. In the announcement, King explained: “We’re bringing more of that feature storytelling magic that Sunday Morning is known for to every day of the week, so now we’re still going to be covering the top news stories of the day, of course, but we’re going to be giving them the time and care that they deserve. And we’re a week-day show, so it’s going to be faster-paced.”

The announcement included photos of the new studio, including the news desk, a relaxed interview area and even the green room. It also included test footage of King, Dokoupil and Burleson at the news desk ringing in the day together. The hosts pointed out the prominent sun-themed art, meant to evoke the rising sun logo of CBS Sunday Morning — one of the network’s most beloved and longest-running shows.

“All CBS News morning broadcasts will now be part of the same family, with a focus on original reporting and exquisite storytelling, connected by the sound of the iconic trumpet music and an ethos of optimism that carries all the way through to the sunshine logo itself,” said CBS News president Neeraj Khemlani in a press release on Tuesday. “We’re adding a bit of CBS Sunday Morning — every morning — on CBS Mornings.”

The general plan for the show is to devote the 7 a.m. hour to hard news reporting on daily headlines, then devote the 8 a.m. hour to expanded feature story reporting including interviews, deep-dive pieces and specific topics including technology, personal finance, climate, race, health, parenting and sports, among other things. In that hour, Anthony Mason will host arts and culture pieces while Vlad Duthiers will continue to host his “What to Watch” segment.

“The two hours the CBS MORNINGS team has every weekday is a gift. We get the chance to inform the audience with the most up-to-date information a person needs to start their day, as well as tell deeper stories that someone would want to watch at 7:00 a.m. or 7:00 p.m.,” said the executive producer of the new morning show Shawna Thomas. “CBS MORNINGS won’t shy away from complicated topics or uplifting moments. Come September, the energy of our new anchor team will bring all of this together to help viewers understand and engage with their world.”

CBS Mornings begins on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 a.m. ET, only on CBS. It will be followed by CBS Saturday Mornings on Sept. 18.

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