Posted on 11/30/2004 6:43:05 PM PST by jdm
(Variety) — NEW YORK -- CBS is considering multiple newscasters to replace Dan Rather in the anchor's chair when he steps down in March.
Viacom co-prexy-co-chief operating officer Leslie Moonves said an anchor partnership is being considered as part of a broad rethinking of the "CBS Evening News" franchise, and that no candidates have been ruled out.
"We are exploring every possibility right now," Moonves said. "After the first of the year, we are going to come to a decision and, by the way, it could be more than one person."
The possibility of a second or even a third chair on the "CBS Evening News" set throws a new angle into the anchor-heir handicapping, but it also brings back some sour memories at CBS of the failed partnering of Rather and Connie Chung in 1994, a year before Moonves joined the network.
Anchor duos have produced some of TV journalism's finest moments, such as NBC's Chet Huntley-David Brinkley partnership, which lasted more than a decade, and some of its biggest flops, including Tom Brokaw and Roger Mudd in the early '80s and the Barbara Walters-Harry Reasoner debacle in 1976.
Moonves said even though "Evening News" is a distant third among evening newscasts, the net has a unique opportunity to execute a turnaround with the transition at NBC from Brokaw to Brian Williams.
"It will give us an opportunity to look at what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong and proceed with the future in a different way," Moonves said.
The only aspect of the "Evening News" not negotiable is the 6:30 timeslot and half-hour duration, he said.
While audiences for all three evening newscasts have dwindled nearly 30% over the past decade, they still reach an estimated 25.8 million viewers a night, according to Nielsen Media Research.
CBS News is awaiting a final report from an independent committee investigating a story on President Bush (news - web sites)'s service in the Texas Air National Guard that was sourced, in part, with documents that were found to have been forged.
Moonves said he's confident that any level of negligence found in the decision to air the documents would not prevent Rather from continuing as an investigative reporter for "60 Minutes."
It could be Johnny Carson & when he's on vacation...either Joan Rivers or Jay Leno?
Freepers, would somebody please raise your hand if you care?
ahh, Who cares C-BS news is dead.
Chair? I'm OK with Rather gettin' the Chair.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Chet Huntley-David Brinkley worked well, the oters were disasters. It would be tough to make it work in the age of Prima Donna anchors, not that I hope CBS doesn't do it and falls on their faces.
Co-anchors would be a stupid move. Perfect for CBS.
How about a "News Show" with NO ANCHOR?
How about a "News Show" that has someone with a pleasant voice READ new news copy. Reading news copy that all the other news outlets have NOT ALREADY played to death? That would be a nice half-hour news show.
How about the TV network having 5-6 guest editorials every evening? This can replace the reading of news items by a talking head.
Please.
How hard can it be to read copy -- written by someone else?
Unbelievable. I guess for Viacom "co-prexy-co-chief operating officer" Leslie Moonves the use of fake documents is A-OK on 60 minutes. Carry on, Dan....but I'm not going to watch.
They ought to hold a raffle to determine who gets to be the news reader on the See-BS Evening News. Let people buy tickets at $10 each. The winner gets the job at half Rather's salary and keeps half the net ticket sales. We might end up with someone who will make editorial comments after stories like, "That ain't gonna sell back home in Peoria."
No, no, no, no. Dan is a real journalist! I've seen him in his jungle jacket thingy. No, he is a real journalist.
A chair in the air on-th-air would work.
Why don't they just telecast the teleprompter and we can all read it ourselves?
CBS would be branded a right-wing news organization because most Liberals can't read.
"It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call ... The CBS Evening News!"
WOW
More BS from cBS.
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