Vance’s outrage didn’t just remain on the debate stage. It spilled over into the public sphere, where he rallied his supporters to take a stand. “Don’t just change the channel,” Vance said. “Change the whole system. Hit them where it hurts — their advertisers. They’re going down, folks!”

And go down they did. Within days, six major advertisers publicly cut ties with CBS, leaving executives at the network wondering if their prime-time programming is next on the chopping block.

The first to announce their departure from CBS was Geico, who, in a brief statement, confirmed they were pulling all advertisements indefinitely. “We strive to reach diverse audiences across the country, but after receiving substantial feedback from our customers, we have decided to suspend our advertising on CBS.”

That announcement was quickly followed by Ford, which made its decision known through a snappy social media post: “Built tough doesn’t mean built to tolerate bias. We’re out.”

Amazon, sensing the winds of political division, didn’t take long to join the exodus. In a more corporate tone, they stated: “As a company that values all voices, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue our advertising on CBS until further notice.”

Pepsi, Liberty Mutual, and Subway also pulled their ads, citing similar concerns about public backlash. For CBS, it was a one-two punch that left the network staggering.

CONTINUE READING ON THE NEXT PAGE

Advertisement: