Network execs weredizzy with excitement when the ratings for struggling CBS Mornings suddenly spiked on April 14.
It was a meteoric rise the likes of which hadn't been seen for yearsand even saw the network overtake ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today.
But just like Katy Perry and her bandage-tight bodysuit, its dreams of a comeback have come crashing back to earth.
The ratings boost was temporary - and the drama at CBS remains omnipresent.
'While they did have a ratings bump on Monday (the day of the mission), it didn't change anything for the weekly average,' one TV insider told the Daily Mail this week.
'The viewers dropped off the next day and didn't come back.'
Another exec framed the network's current situationas a 'perfect storm' of woes.
First, there is parent company Paramount'spending merger with Skydance.
Gayle King's Blue Origin flight into space last week has left CBS News in worse trouble than ever, according to industry insiders who spoke with Daily Mail
There's also alawsuit from Donald Trumpand ongoing staff revolts.
'The whole team at 60 is devastated,' one told Daily Mail.
While Owens may be revered as the 60 Minutes savior, he is also blamed for the downfall of CBS Evening News, that saw longtime host Nora O'Donnell replaced with two men.
A separate exec - who previously worked at CBS News - framed the deviation from the original format as a 'disaster'.
Ratings torpedoed - and have remained down ever since.
The situation past sundown is bad, but it's the network's performance in the mornings that has the industry grimacing.
King's CBS Morningsposted its lowest ratings since relaunching in 2021, dipping below 1.87 million viewers.
NBC's Today, meanwhile, managed 2.489million total viewers on average last week. Good Morning America pulled in 2.655million.
King's jaunt to space brought CBS back to a 2,453,000 average. Those gains are set to be lost by next week.
The network also faces questions over who paid for the space ride, and whether King breached rules by accepting the freebie.
The CBS coverage of the space 'mission' was fawning - a glowing review for Jeff Bezos and his bride-to-be, Lauren Sanchez
There was a temporary spike in ratings thanks to Gayle King's involvement... but they've since come crashing back to earth
Her chummy friendship with Jeff Bezos and his bride-to-be Lauren Sanchez gave the pair a boost in publicity.
While CBS fawned over the 'mission', other networks called out its extravagance.
The space joyride is only the latest headache for the network.
Trump has waged war on CBS over its October interview with Kamala Harris that he maintains was 'deceptively edited'.
Trump's lawsuit, filed just before election day, has since surfaced as a sticking point for the $8billion Skydance deal- one thatnon-executive chairwoman of Paramount Global Shari Redstone is seeking to save.
The Succession-style heiress knows the deal requires federal approval. Trump's Federal Commission Chairman, Brendan Carr, is so far not playing ball.
Her apparent bending to the administration was one of the reasons for Owens' departure from 60 Minutes.
'I do think this will be a moment for the corporation to take a hard look at itself and its relationship with us,' Owens told the room, speaking to a cast of characters that included Wendy McMahon and correspondentsLesley Stahl and Anderson Cooper.
Staffers are furious with big boss Shari Redstone, who they think is capitulating to the Trump administration in order to push through Paramount's looming deal with Skydance - which the government must approve
Long-term 60 Minutes producer Bill Owens quit this week in a fury. He said he'd lost 'independence' at the show
CBS is also being sued by Trump over this interview with Kamala Harris, that he says was heavily edited to sway the election in her favor
'People have asked, should we walk out?No. The opposite.
'I really, really, really believe that this will create a moment where the corporation will have to think about the way we operate - the way we’ve always operated - and allow us to operate like that.'
The speech - aired before an email went out across the company - indicated he was not leaving by choice.
Stahl, who has been with CBS for nearly half a century, later told Variety that C-Suiters had been interfering with the show's independence.
At 83, many believe she'll sooner retire than fight for any kind of revolution.
As for last exec standing McMahon, sources recently told Puck she will likely be next on the chopping block.
She assumed full control of the network in 2023, after years of holding a lesser role alongside Neeraj Khemlani.
Both Khemlani and Adrienne Roark - McMahon's old deputy - have since left, both allegedly under unceremonious terms.
Roark publicly resigned earlier this year after a falling out with McMahon, a source previously told the Daily Mail, while Khemlani left in the summer of 2023 after a two- year tenure marred by clashes with high-profile anchors and complaints from HR.
Mornings and Evenings, meanwhile, both continue to underperform, leaving the eye network desperate for more sets of, well, eyes.
