Bob's Your Uncle
The search for a CBS Evening News anchor continues
Bob Schieffer, CBS
If you already work for CBS News, don't count on getting the
CBS Evening News anchor job.
CBS News president Sean McManus told reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour Wednesday that insiders at the network are not high on his list. Of course, it's been widely reported that the network wants to pursue Katie Couric, coanchor of NBC's Today, whose contract is up in May. But even if she decides to stay put at NBC, McManus said he's more likely to go with an outsider for the anchor job.
"That's probably the case," he said.
Why? "I'm not sure we have anyone who has the qualifications that the anchor should have," he says. "Part of that may be that there hasn't been quite enough emphasis on developing the next anchor." While there are many capable correspondents and substitute anchors at CBS, McManus added, none have the kind of high profile that would make them an obvious choice for the viewers.
Oddly enough, the network's current interim anchor, Bob Schieffer, has turned out to be just that. Since Dan Rather left the anchor chair last March, the veteran Washington correspondent has filled in for what was supposed to be a few months. But ratings for the third-place broadcast have picked up lately, and Schieffer is a big favorite with TV critics. Still, he's not the long-term answer.
"He's respected and he's comfortable giving the news," says McManus. "He doesn't want to be the anchor for the next five years.... If Bob wanted to do it, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion right now."
As for the future, McManus says he has "a number of plans" for the broadcast beyond Schieffer, though he wouldn't elaborate. None of the current CBS talent appears to be part of those plans, including White House correspondent John Roberts, who had long been considered Rather's successor.
"In my mind, no, he is not," McManus said. "He's been an excellent White House correspondent. But we're looking in a different direction."
While McManus, who replaced Andrew Heyward last November, is looking outside CBS for his new anchor, he seemed to back away from CBS chairman Les Moonves' past pronouncements that the evening newscast needs to be reinvented.
"We're not going to drastically change the way we present the evening news every night. We're going to try to do a better job, we're going to try to break more stories and put the world's news in context better than anyone else does.... I don't think there's any reason to tear up the format and break the mold."
What about the multiple-anchors route that ABC has used with Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff? Nope.
"I think having one primary anchor is the way to go" he said. "I give ABC a lot of credit for trying a lot of new things. We'll know in a year how well received they are by the viewing public."
