CBS News said it added Bianna Golodryga to its morning host roster at “CBS This Morning,” broadening its roster of anchors in the competitive morning-news field.
The anchor addition comes as the morning program, while faring better for CBS than many of its predecessors, continues to lag its main rivals: NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” For the week ending September 30, for example, “CBS This Morning” won an average of 753,000 viewers between 25 and 54 – the demographic most desired by advertisers in news programming. But “Today” captured an average of 1.37 million viewers in that category and “GMA” won an average of nearly 1.19 million, according to figures from Nielsen. Indeed, since Matt Lauer was fired from “Today,” “CBS This Morning” has seen more of a drop in viewers in the demo than its two competitors, according to Nielsen.
Golodryga has worked as a reporter and fill-in co-host at CBS since August of 2017, started her duties today on the program and will be based in New York. When CBS News was casting about for a replacement for Charlie Rose, who was ousted last year after being accused of sexual harassment, Golodryga was cited as a potential candidate. She will continue to work as a contributor to various CNN programs.
Related
She joins a team that has considerable chops. Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell have carried “CBS This Morning” the longest. They were joined by former “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson at the start of this year.
“In the last year Bianna has become a tremendous asset to all of us at CTM,” said Ryan Kadro, executive producer of the program, in a statement. “She is a superb broadcaster and journalist, and we look forward to having her at the table, or reporting in the field, every day.”
Other morning programs are bringing additional faces to their tables. Craig Melvin, a longtime weekend anchor for “Today,” is now making more regular appearances on the flagship weekday edition of the show, alongside Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
Before joining CBS News, Golodryga’s career included stops at CNBC, ABC News and Yahoo News. Between 2007 and 2014, Golodryga was the weekend co-anchor for ABC’s “Good Morning America” and the network’s business correspondent. In 2014, Golodryga joined Yahoo News as the news and finance anchor responsible for leading coverage of major financial and news stories. Golodryga began her career in television as a bureau producer at CNBC in 2001. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian studies with a minor in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.