CBSN features anchored programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to midnight Eastern Time (ET). The service draws content from CBS News along with other CBS properties, such as CBS Sports, CNET, Entertainment Tonight, and CBS affiliated television stations. It airs a looping broadcast of the CBS Morning News from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. ET, morning show CBSN AM from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. ET, and segments from both CBS Mornings (every weekdays) and CBS Saturday Morning (every Saturday) at 8:00 a.m. ET, one hour after the live East Coast television broadcast. CBSN also features the CBS Milestone segments, showcasing classic stories and interviews from CBS News programs such as Face the Nation.

Both Face the Nation and CBS News Sunday Morning are carried on the channel in their entirety on a half-hour delay from the East Coast network feed and again during the West Coast late morning hours. Although marketed as featuring live programming, CBSN primarily uses hour-long “news wheels” updated throughout the day, but recorded programs can be interrupted to cover of breaking news and live events when needed.

CBSN airs hour-long blocks of live news weekdays from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., and 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET, which is then incorporated into the “news wheel”. On December 4, 2017, CBSN began streaming the “Western Edition” of the CBS Evening News weekdays at 10:00 p.m. ET, immediately following its West Coast television broadcast. In early 2018, Jeff Glor began inserting a specialized opening and closer for CBSN.

Live coverage on weekends, beginning at noon ET, was anchored by Reena Ninan on Saturdays and Elaine Quijano on Sundays. Weekend coverage is broadcast on the CBS television network, under the CBS Weekend News title, during the timeslot previously occupied by the weekend edition of the CBS Evening News. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the overnight hours, live news updates were provided by CBS News Radio at the top of each hour.