The revamped CBS Evening News rolled out to much fanfare, only to be mercilessly roasted by the media’s hall monitors after a teleprompter glitch on its maiden broadcast. The glitch was presented by these outlets as proof evident of the newscast being subpar. But what will their reaction be now that the vaunted ABC World News Tonight went through a similar thing?
Watch as ABC’s David Muir fumbles through the top two stories on World News Tonight before finally being bailed out by chief meteorologist Ginger Zee:
After multiple thinkpieces about how the new CBS Evening News was cooked because of technical glitches, we get THIS masterpiece from ABC. Where do Tony and Bari go to collect their apologies from the media hall monitors? pic.twitter.com/zbE4ZQVaTs
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) January 28, 2026
DAVID MUIR: Matt Rivers leading us off from Minneapolis tonight.
(SILENCE OVER AN UNRELATED STILL IMAGE, FOLLOWED BY AARON KATERSKY STARING AT THE CAMERA)
MUIR: Obviously, we're having issues here. We'll get to that report from Minneapolis in just a moment. Of course, we're also tracking this potential new nor'easter that could come right up the coast. And this comes as tens of millions deal with this life-threatening cold tonight into tomorrow. Here's Victor Oquendo on that tonight.
(MUIR STARES INTO THE ABBYSS)
MUIR: We await Victor's piece, too, and Ginger Zee is standing by with us. She’s live with the forecast tonight. Ginger, obviously, this is what happens with live television from time to time. You'll take us through this forecast.
GINGER ZEE: You know I will, David. Of course. And so we'll go ahead and start with the cold. Because, obviously, that's what's impacting so many people that still don’t have power, and it is not going anywhere.
That was painful. But the newscast recovered, running those initially botched stories further down A-block. No blood, no foul.
As the evening progressed, we wondered what the media hall monitors might say about such an epic botch. Would Oliver Darcy and company critique World News Tonight with a fraction of the gleeful scorn shown CBS? We got our answer, just a couple of hours later, via Darcy’s Status newsletter:
Muir and the 'Meltdown': Disarray broke out behind the scenes Tuesday evening after a tech gremlin struck the top-rated "World News with David Muir.” As the program got underway, Muir attempted to toss to a package from Matt Rivers on the situation in Minneapolis. The first frame of the report appeared on screen, but the video never rolled. Instead, viewers were soon treated to a series of flashes before the broadcast returned back to Muir. Muir then tried to pivot, tossing to a separate package by Victor Oquendo. Once again, the package refused to air. With little choice, Muir went live to Ginger Zee for a weather report. “Obviously this is what happens with live television from time to time,” Muir remarked. While Muir kept his composure on camera, I’m told staffers in the control room were far less calm, with people familiar with the situation describing it as chaotic and a “massive meltdown” as they worked to get the program back on track.
Darcy goes on to acknowledge the irony, sort of:
Notably, the situation came just weeks after new “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil suffered an on-air snafu, leading to criticism of the program and network chief Bari Weiss. While different, both are a reminder that live television is not as easy to produce as it perhaps looks.
That last line is everything. Live TV wasn’t easy back then, either. But Darcy showed no grace whatsoever when dealing with the rollout of an all-new newscast he couldn’t wait to bury.
How are the botches different? The correct answer is: there’s nothing different. Nothing, that is, except that today’s botched open aired on a network newscast best known for being as the most stridently anti-Trump. They get grace and the benefit of the doubt. For deviating from orthodoxy, the media hall monitors give CBS nothing.
Where do Bari Weiss, Tony Dokoupil et al go to get their apologies?
