ABC has officially named hottie Elizabeth Vargas and, um, the neatly coiffed Bob Woodruff coanchors of World News Tonight, for which they have been the primary substitutes since Peter Jennings vacated the post months prior to his passing. The Eye Network, meanwhile, is still angling to steal Today's Katie Couric to front CBS Evening News, provided that she somehow can come away unscathed from Macy'sM&MBalloonGate.
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NBC News president Steve Capus
Back in 1997, Steve Capus was executive producer of The News with Brian Williams, the prime-time flagship newscast of NBC's fledgling cable news channel MSNBC. At the end of each broadcast, the show's staff often had the same thought: Is anybody out there? Nearly a decade later Williams is seen by 10 million viewers of NBC Nightly News, where he has finished his first year as anchor and where Capus also served as executive producer. On Tuesday Capus, 42, was named president of NBC News after filling the role on an interim basis when Neal Shapiro departed in September. While NBC struggles in prime time, under Capus' watch it has remained the leader in the evening news and in the morning, with a resurgent Today show. Now that his job is permanent, Capus talked with The Biz about the challenges ahead.
TVGuide.com: Congratulations on passing the audition. What do you think made this happen?Capus: When (NBC Universal Televis
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In his first public appearance since dissing Dubya, Kanye West said he would stick to the script at Thursday's NFL opening kickoff concert in Los Angeles. "I don't want to detract from the show at all, because it's entertainment," he said, "and a lot of times, in a time of need, we need entertainment to lift people's spirits." Although the rapper didn't directly address his anti-Bush tirade, he did note that the events of the past week have been "a lot of pressure for one human being." You should see the toll it's taking on Katie Couric's hairdo.
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The coolest Batman movie to date — yes, I'm talking about Batman Begins — arrives on DVD Oct. 18.... Entertainment Tonight style guru Steven Cojocaru tells US Weekly that his body rejected his first kidney transplant and he needs another.... P. Diddy announced Tuesday that he's dropping the "P" in his name and will now be known simply as "Diddy." "I felt the 'P' was coming between me and my fans," he told Today's Katie Couric. "We had to simplify it." It's all about the fans with Sean John, er, Sean Combs, er, Puffy Combs, er, Puffy Smurf, er, P. Diddy, er, Diddy.
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