CBS Evening News

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The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
CBS Evening News
Current logo of The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
Format News
Created by Don Hewitt
Presented by Douglas Edwards (1948-1962)
Walter Cronkite (1962-1981)
Dan Rather (1981-1993, 1995-2005)
Connie Chung and Dan Rather
(1993-1995)
Bob Schieffer (2005–2006)
Katie Couric (2006–Present) Jeff Glor (2009-Present) Russ Mitchell (2007–Present)
Country of origin  United States
No. of seasons 61
Production
Running time 15 minutes (1948-1963)
30 minutes (1963-Present)
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Picture format 480i (SDTV),
1080i (HDTV)
Original run May 3, 1948 (as CBS Television News), 1950 (as Douglas Edwards with the News), September 2, 1963 (as The CBS Evening News) – Present

The CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963.

Currently, The CBS Evening News is anchored on weekdays by Katie Couric, on Saturdays by Jeff Glor, and on Sundays by Russ Mitchell. It is broadcast from the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57 Street in New York City.[1]


Contents

[edit] Anchors

[edit] Douglas Edwards (1948-1962)

CBS began broadcasting news shows on Saturday nights, expanding to two nights a week in 1947. On May 3, 1948 Douglas Edwards began The CBS-TV News, a regular 15-minute nightly newscast. It aired every weeknight at 7:30 PM ET/6:30PM CT, and was the first regularly-scheduled television news program. The week's news stories were recapped Sunday night with Newsweek in Review. The name was later shortened to Week in Review and the show was moved to Saturday.

In 1950, the name of the nightly news was changed to Douglas Edwards with The News. When in 1951 it became the first news program to be broadcast on both coasts, thanks to a new coaxial cable connection, Edwards started using the greeting "Good evening everyone, coast to coast."[2]

The program competed against the Camel News Caravan on NBC, launched in 1949. Edwards attracted more viewers during the mid-1950s, but lost ground when Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were teamed up by NBC on the Huntley-Brinkley Report. In September 1955, Edwards was moved to 6:45 PM ET, although some affiliates had the option of carrying a 7:15 PM ET edition.

On November 30, 1956, the show became the first to use the new technology of videotape; it was used to time delay the broadcast (which originated in New York City) for the western U.S.[3]

[edit] Walter Cronkite (1962-1981)

Walter Cronkite took over the anchor chair on April 16, 1962. On September 2, 1963, CBS Evening News became network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, lengthened from its original 15 minutes to 30 minutes, and telecast at 6:30PM ET (as before, some affiliates had the option of carrying a 7:00PM ET edition).

NBC's team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley had the most-watched network news program at the time, but under Cronkite, the show began what would eventually become an eighteen-year period of dominating the nightly news ratings.[4] In the process, Walter Cronkite became an American icon, judged "the most trusted man in America" in a Gallup Poll from that era, a status that had first been fostered by his coverage of the JFK Assassination.[citation needed]

The newscast switched from black and white to color on August 19, 1965, about the same time as many other CBS shows. With the retirement of NBC's Huntley in 1970, Cronkite moved into the ratings lead and held it through the decade. Cronkite's image was further bolstered by his enthusiastic support for the space program, culminating with his anchoring of CBS News' coverage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969.

His 1968 editorial declaring that the United States could only hope for a stalemate in Vietnam is often credited with influencing Lyndon Johnson's decision to drop out of the Presidential race. "If I've lost Walter Cronkite ... [I]'ve lost Middle America", he stated.[5]

In late 1972, Cronkite prodded the show's producers to feature two nights of lengthy explanation of the Watergate scandal, which had been heavily covered by The Washington Post but had not received heavy national coverage. After the first half of the report, shown on a Friday, ran for 14 minutes -- half of the air time of the broadcast -- White House officials complained to CBS founder William S. Paley. Monday's report was aired, but only for six minutes.

Walter Cronkite retired from the broadcast March 6, 1981, under a CBS policy requiring mandatory retirement at age 65. CBS correspondent Dan Rather replaced Cronkite the following Monday.

[edit] Dan Rather (1981-2005)

Dan Rather, a CBS news correspondent since the early 1960s and a 60 Minutes reporter, took over the program on March 9, 1981 but was not as well-received as an anchorman as Cronkite had been - by 1990, the show was in third place behind ABC and NBC.[4]

Concerns about excessive liberalism in the media were frequently leveled at Rather and CBS in general.[citation needed] Some of these concerns dated from Rather's position as White House correspondent for CBS News during the Nixon Administration. An interview related to the Iran-contra affair with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush where the two engaged in a shouting match on live television did little to dispel those concerns.[6] Rather apologized for his behavior in statements the following day.

On September 1, 1986, Rather attempted to initiate a slogan, as his predecessor had "And that's the way it is". Simply closing his broadcasts by saying "Courage" after his closing remarks. On September 3 he said what he thought was the Spanish word for "courage", pronouncing it "cur-AH-he". This was heavily criticized and mocked in the media, and Rather abandoned it on September 8.[7]

On September 11, 1987, Dan Rather marched off the camera in anger when it appeared that CBS Sports' coverage of a US Open semifinal match was going to cut into time allotted for the Evening News. Rather was in Miami covering the papal visit to the city. When the tennis match ended at 6:32 PM, Rather was nowhere to be found. Six minutes of dead air followed before he returned to the broadcast position - surprisingly, nearly half of the audience watched and waited. Rather later suggested that his intention was to force the sports department to fill up the entire half-hour so that he wouldn't have to truncate their elaborately-planned coverage of a visit by Pope John Paul II.

Demonstrators from AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) broke into the CBS News studio on January 23, 1991 and chanted "Fight AIDS, not Arabs" during the show's introduction. One protester was seen on camera just as Dan Rather began speaking. Rather immediately called for a commercial break and later apologized to viewers about the incident.[8]

In 2005, Rather left the anchor position amidst controversy and a credibility crisis over reports broadcast in the heat of the US Presidential election campaign. The report was a September 2004 60 Minutes Wednesday segment questioning President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard record. Conservatives challenged the authenticity of the Killian documents used for the report. A number of bloggers analyzed scans of the documents, and rapidly concluded the documents were forgeries. Subsequently, CBS commissioned an independent inquiry into the matter.

While the authenticity of the documents in question could not be proven one way or the other (the question came down to whether or not the Texas Air National Guard used Selectric typewriters with proportional spacing), the original typist of the documents verified the accuracy of their contents. While many Americans were left with the impression that the documents were false and the information inaccurate, the facts presented in the story were never in question, only the trail of ownership of four documents.[9]

Although Rather denied this incident was the reason for his departure from the broadcast, the damaged credibility of the news division was evident. After his departure from the anchor chair, Rather worked on other CBS News programming as a correspondent before leaving the network in 2006.

Dan Rather retired from the Evening News on March 9, 2005 at 7:00 eastern time, exactly 24 years after succeeding Cronkite. On June 20, 2006 CBS News President Sean McManus announced that Rather and CBS had agreed to end his 44-year career with the network.

[edit] Dan Rather & Connie Chung (1993-1995)

From June 1, 1993 to May 18, 1995 Connie Chung began co-anchoring the broadcast with Rather. She both co-anchored in the studio, but also with either herself or Dan on location with the other in the studio. Although Rather never said so publicly, CBS News insiders said he did not approve of her appointment.[10]

[edit] Bob Schieffer (2005-2006)

Bob Schieffer

On March 10, 2005 Rather was succeeded on an interim basis by longtime CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer. Schieffer has hosted the CBS News Sunday-morning political program Face the Nation, based in Washington, D.C., since 1991.

At the time Schieffer took over, it was uncertain how long he would host the broadcast; also uncertain was whether it would retain its current shape or instead adopt some kind of multiple-host or other alternative format.

Under Rather in the years leading up to his retirement, the show trailed its rivals at ABC and NBC by a fairly large margin. John Roberts, the White House correspondent and Scott Pelley, his predecessor in that position, were often mentioned as possible successors to Rather when he retired.[citation needed] Jim Axelrod took over as White House correspondent when Roberts later left for CNN.

In the months following Rather's departure, the program came to emphasize live exchanges between Schieffer and the various CBS News correspondents around the world. In contrast to traditional network-news practice, these exchanges are unrehearsed as part of an effort to make the language on the broadcast sound more "natural", according to Schieffer.[citation needed] Viewership levels increased over this period of time. It was the only news broadcast to gain viewers during 2005. In November 2005, CBS announced that Evening News executive producer Jim Murphy would be replaced by Rome Hartman, who took the helm over in January 2006.

Schieffer led The CBS Evening News to become the #2 evening news broadcast, beating out ABC World News Tonight. This came after a five-year period of being a distant third. The death of Peter Jennings in 2005 put the ABC News division in flux. When Charles Gibson was appointed as anchor at World News Tonight, ABC regained much of its momentum to take back the #2 spot. Bob Schieffer's final broadcast of the newscast occurred on August 31, 2006. Russ Mitchell filled in for the following two nights (September 1 and 4), after which he was succeeded on September 5 by Katie Couric.

[edit] Katie Couric (2006-Present)

CBS Evening News logo used from September 2006 to May 2009

On December 1, 2005, it was reported that Katie Couric, host of NBC's Today morning show, was considering CBS' offer to take over the CBS Evening News. On April 1, 2006, Couric officially signed the deal to become the anchor of the CBS Evening News.[11]

On April 5, 2006, Couric officially told the Today audience she would step down as co-anchor, a spot she had held for fifteen years, longer than any other Today Show anchor. There had been a great deal of speculation on whether she would leave a multi-million dollar contract with Today. To lure Couric away from NBC, CBS offered her the anchor post and additionally, the opportunity to become a contributor to 60 Minutes. Couric is the first female to anchor a national network newscast solo and also serves as the program's managing editor.

Many[who?] have criticized the move by CBS to promote Couric to the broadcast chair, questioning Couric's ability to deliver hard journalism after 15 years of entertainment and fluff segments on Today. Critics claim she lacks the weight to be a sole anchor of the CBS Evening News. Also, Couric has little experience doing live field reports from news hotspots nor any experience leading a news team as evening anchors have traditionally done.[12] Couric's supporters point to the fact that she was once a Washington deputy reporter on the Pentagon beat for NBC News, although this was over twenty years ago in the 1980s.[13]

Couric began working at CBS News in July 2006. During her first broadcast as anchor on September 5, 2006 new graphics, a new set, and a new theme composed by Academy Award winning composer James Horner were introduced; similar graphics and music would be used in other CBS News productions such as Up to the Minute, CBS Morning News, and The Early Show throughout the month of October. A new opening title sequence was designed, with Walter Cronkite providing the voiceover. The program also debuted a new feature called "Free Speech" in which different Americans, ranging from a well known national figure to an average person, would provide a news commentary.[14] However, after overwhelmingly negative reaction, the "Free Speech" segment was discontinued.

Couric's debut nearly doubled the average audience the program had pulled in up until then, bringing in 13.6 million viewers. CBS Evening News with Katie Couric remained until September. By the week of September 18 it dropped to second. By mid-October 2006, the broadcast had slipped back into third place, at times trailing far behind the competitors.[15]

On March 8, 2007, The New York Times reported that executive producer Rome Hartman was being replaced by television news veteran Rick Kaplan. Hartman's last production aired on March 7. Kaplan comes to the CBS Evening News after stints at MSNBC, CNN, and ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.

Since Couric assumed the helm of the CBS Evening News, several correspondents have left the network for one reason or another, notably John Roberts, Jim Acosta, Lee Cowan and Trish Regan. On April 22, 2007, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that CBS News is thinking about replacing Couric after the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. However, CBS executives have denied these reports.[16]

CBS, led by Les Moonves, has continued to offer their support of Couric through what the network has deemed a "transition period".[when?][citation needed] Couric and the production teams behind the broadcast began to re-focus their efforts on "hard news", which was demonstrated in Couric's recent trips to the Middle East.[when?] Viewers aren't pushing for Katie Couric to leave the CBS anchor chair, but if she did, they would like to see her back on her former turf — a morning news show such as NBC's Today, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. Katie's trip to Iraq had a record-low audience (5.3 million viewers), and CBS chief Leslie Moonves squelched rumors about her possible departure by visiting the newsroom to express his support for her on April 18. Of 1,016 adults polled by phone April 18-20, 46% said Couric shouldn't be replaced (margin of error +/— 3 percentage points). One quarter of respondents said she should be replaced. CBS declined comment on the poll results. Many of those polled would be happy to see Couric return to morning duties if she did leave the CBS newscast. Offered four choices, 35% said Couric would be best served returning to morning news, while 28% said she should be a full-time 60 Minutes correspondent. (She is a correspondent now but not full-time.) And 17% said Couric should succeed CNN interviewer Larry King when he retires; 8% think she should join Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres as a daytime talk show host.[17]

The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric won the 2008 Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. In September, Couric interviewed Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, earning respect from a MarketWatch critic for asking tough questions.[18]

On December 24, 2008, MediaBistro wrote a piece about the Big Three network newscasts, praising Couric's CBS Evening News for extensive reporting that had, to its eyes, content better than its rivals. [19] Another critic from MarketWatch praised Couric's recent work and said that people should watch out for her this 2009.[20] That didn't stop from there, Tom Shales, a Washington Post writer praised Couric as a warmer, more benevolent presence than her two competitors; something that she brought to the program nearly 16 years of goodwill from doing "Today" and becoming America's sweetheart, or very close to it. And that goodwill is still there. He said that perhaps viewers find bad news less discomforting and sleep-depriving as Couric gives it to them. It's news you can warm up to. He also added that that doesn't mean she tries to sugarcoat or prettify grim realities. She has proved her toughness time and again. But "The CBS Evening News" may be a more hospitable, welcoming sort of place than its competitors. It's naive to think that viewers choose their news anchor based solely on strict journalistic credentials, though Couric's do seem to be in order, whatever the Katie haters may say.[21]

Katie called into CNN's Reliable Sources for an interview with Howard Kurtz. They discussed a wide range of topics, including her scoop of a first interview with US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger, her interview with President Obama, and her recent uptick in ratings after more than two years in the anchor chair. Couric, addressing her ratings, said that she doesn't necessarily think that two years is such a long time to get comfortable behind the desk and that she worries less about ratings than the quality of the work. She admitted "it's not a lot of fun being pummeled in the press," but that she does not take it personally: "I think that there are a lot of unhappy, sort of insecure, vitriolic people out there, and I always sort of feel bad for them, that this is how they spend their time."

Couric was honored for her "extraordinary, persistent and detailed multi-part interviews with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin" which judges called a "defining moment in the 2008 presidential campaign." She was given the award for Special Achievement for National Impact on the 2008 Campaign. The award was given by Reliable Resources, a group run out of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California. It's mission statement says "Reliable Resources was created to help generate conversation and ideas on improving broadcast political coverage. Broadcast news, network and local, has declined significantly as a primary source for campaign news. Our project seeks to design and distribute tools which would make political news enlightening, informative and exciting to local and network broadcasters."

The Cronkite Award winners prove that thoughtful, informative political coverage can also make for gripping television according to USC Annenberg professor Martin Kaplan, director of the School's Norman Lear Center, which has administered the biennial awards honoring the distinguished broadcast journalist and longtime CBS anchor Walter Cronkite since 2000.[22]

On May 18, 2009, the newscast's graphics were overhauled with a new design, using a blue and red color scheme with web-influenced motifs and layouts. The new graphics design was lead by Bob Peterson and other members of the CBS News staff, made with a contemporary look, influenced by the graphics CBS used during the 2008 presidential election coverage.[23]

[edit] Weekend editions

U.S. Network Evening News
Networks
ABC World News with Charles Gibson
CBS CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
NBC NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
PBS The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Cable
BBC BBC World News America
CNN The Situation Room
FNC Special Report with Bret Baier
Fox Report with Shepard Smith
HLN Prime News
MSNBC The Ed Show
Spanish Networks
Uni Noticiero Univision
Tel Noticiero Telemundo
v • d • e

CBS correspondent Russ Mitchell currently anchors the Sunday edition of the CBS Evening News. Mitchell, along with Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez, also currently substitutes for Couric on the weekday edition of the CBS Evening News. The Sunday edition airs a half-hour earlier than the rest of the week's broadcasts at 6:00/5:00 ET/CT. The Saturday editions, at 6:30/5:30 ET/CT, are anchored by Jeff Glor.

Weekend newscasts are often pre-empted for CBS Sports telecasts, most notably coverage of the National Football League. However, an anchor will deliver updates during a break in the action if major news develops.

Former anchors of the weekend newscasts include Dan Rather (1970–1975), Roger Mudd (1975–1976), Morton Dean (1976–1979), Bob Schieffer (1979–1990), Paula Zahn (1990–1996), John Roberts (1996–1997), Deborah Norville (1997–2002), Giselle Fernández (2002–2005),Mika Brzezinski (2005–2006) and

[edit] High definition

On Monday, July 28, 2008, the CBS Evening News began broadcasting in high definition, becoming the third national newscast, behind NBC Nightly News and News Hour with Jim Lehrer to do so. In addition, 60 Minutes started broadcasting in HD in September, with the remainder of CBS News programming to follow by the end of 2009.[24]

[edit] Broadcasts outside the U.S.

CBS Evening News is shown on Sky News to viewers in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia at 12.30am & 5.30am GMT. In Australia, the bulletin is shown at 11.30am Monday to Saturday, and at 12.30pm on Sundays on Sky News Australia.

CBS is not shown outside the Americas on a channel in its own right. However, CBS News is shown for a few hours a day on satellite channel Orbit News in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. CBS Evening News is broadcast live on ATV World in Hong Kong daily (except on certain weekends). In the Philippines it is shown on Q, everyday Mon to Sun at 7:30 AM (local time) live via satellite and after Balitanghali.

From 1 January 2009, ATV ceased broadcasting CBS Evening News and its sister programme, 60 Minutes Plus. The broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman has also been stopped.

[edit] Correspondents

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-04-1999/0000925277
  2. ^ Frank, Dennis (2006-03-02). "Douglas Edwards Chronology". The Douglas Edwards Archives at St. Bonaventure University. St. Bonaventure University. http://web.sbu.edu/friedsam/archives/Edwards/chronology.htm. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  3. ^ "Channel 5 Engineer Honored With Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award". knpb.org. http://www.knpb.org/staff/awards.asp. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  4. ^ a b Auster, Albert. "Columbia Broadcasting System". http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/columbiabroa/columbiabroa.htm. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  5. ^ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/walter-cronkite/filmmaker-interview-catherine-tatge/563/
  6. ^ Media Research Center (Producer). In 1998 Rather grilled Bush about Iran-Contra. URL accessed on 2007-09-09.
  7. ^ "'Courage'". ratherbiased.com. 2003-12-23. Archived from the original on 2004-02-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20040210144041/http://www.ratherbiased.com/courage.htm. 
  8. ^ "AIDS Protesters Enter Sets of 2 Newscasts". The New York Times. 1991-01-23. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEED6153EF930A15752C0A967958260. Retrieved on 2009-01-16. 
  9. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathergate
  10. ^ MediaWeek article from April 26, 1997
  11. ^ "NBC NEWS "TODAY" KATIE COURIC TRANSCRIPT" (Transcript). Today. NBC. 2006-04-05. http://nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/news-20060405000000-nbcnewsquottoday.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  12. ^ Winzenburg, Stephen (2006-04-09). "Is Couric ready for prime-time TV news?". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-04-09-forum-couric_x.htm. 
  13. ^ Davila, Florangela (2006-04-07). "Can we take Katie Couric as a hard-news journalist?". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2002915706_couric07.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  14. ^ "CBS News Debuts 'freeSpeech' An Original Segment Of Opinion And Commentary". CBSNews.com. 2006-09-06. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/05/eveningnews/main1967177.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  15. ^ Stelter, Brian (2006-10-18). "Katie Couric Is The "Clear No. 3"". mediabistro.com. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/couric_watch/katie_couric_is_the_clear_no_3_45781.asp. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  16. ^ Shister, Gail (2007-04-22). "CBS evening blues: Katie Couric hasn't redeemed the No. 3 newscast. Can she survive as anchor?". Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/gail_shister/20070422_Gail_Shister___CBS_evening_blues.html. Retrieved on 2007-04-23. 
  17. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-05-05-couric_N.htm
  18. ^ http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid={5C747603-F143-45ED-AED7-84AC269BABD9}
  19. ^ Media Bistro.com
  20. ^ http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/five-media-stories-watch-2009/3F71F405-A6A2-4A35-B105-E3A2A0BEE77F?dist=msrv_2
  21. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012803756.html
  22. ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/10/couricandco/entry4856848.shtml
  23. ^ "CBS Evening News To Debut New Logo, Graphics Monday". TVNewser. May 15, 2009. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cbs/cbs_evening_news_to_debut_new_logo_graphics_monday_116637.asp. Retrieved on 2009-05-19. 
  24. ^ "CBS Evening News Gears Up for HD". broadcastingcable.com. 2008-07-26. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6576275.html?industryid=47168. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Anchors of The CBS Evening News
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