CBS News Celebrates 50 Years of "On the Road"
CBS Evening News
Watch Scott Pelley's Final Sign Off From CBS Evening News
Bye Scott, we'll miss you
Katie Couric Nearing Deal to Exit ABC News for Yahoo
Katie Couric is bidding adieu to ABC News. The former Today and CBS Evening News anchor is negotiating her exit package from the...
Katie Coming Back for Second Season
Katie Couric's self-named daytime talk show has been renewed for a second season, Deadline reports. Katie, which just nabbed a headline-making sit-down interview with...
Katie Couric Announces New Web Series For ABC and Yahoo!
Katie Couric is one busy woman. She is not only preparing for her self-titled ABC talk show's debut on Sept. 10, but she's also partnering with ABC News/Yahoo! to host a weekly online news show.
Katie Couric Announces Premiere Date for Daytime Talk Show
She's baaack! Katie Couric will return to TV this fall when her daytime talk show, Katie, premieres on Sept. 10, executive producer Jeff Zucker announced on Thursday. Zucker, the former head of NBC and Couric's old producer on Today, announced the additions of...
Katie Couric, Boyfriend Split After Five Years
Katie Couric and her boyfriend of five years, entrepreneur Brooks Perlin, have split, People reports.The breakup was "inevitable," a source tells the magazine, because ...
Who Earns What: TV's Biggest Salaries
A lot of people think TV is better than movies these days. For many actors, it certainly pays better. Unless you're able to play a superhero, it's tough to get super-rich from big-screen work, so more actors are moving to series TV. The expanded talent pool has given networks and studios extra leverage in negotiating salaries. "There are so few gigantic stars in features and the rest are not making any money," says one industry executive familiar with this year's deal-making. "That's helpful." The general rule across the TV business is to keep lead performers on new network prime-time series to $125,000 an episode. (Cable networks are going as high as $150,000.) That's not Charlie Sheen money, but it's not bad. "Times that by 22, [and] you can maintain a pretty good lifestyle based on what you were making in features but now you're not," the executive says. There are always exceptions
The Biz: Katie Couric's Back!
Katie Couric's new syndicated daytime talk show doesn't premiere until September 2012, but she's already got her head in the game. When asked to describe what her program would have looked like had it been up and running the day cyber-cheating congressman Anthony Weiner admitted to his online indiscretions, she only takes a moment to come up with a provocative topic. "I would have done an hour on why powerful men engage in...
Katie Couric Leaving CBS Evening News Next Week
Katie Couric will leave CBS Evening News on Thursday.Scott Pelley to replace Katie Couric on CBS Evening NewsThe anchor, whose contract expires June 4, announced her exit date on Friday's broadcast, adding that she will look back at "some of the amazing stories ...
The Biz: Rock-Solid Pelley Anchors CBS
CBS Evening News could not get out of third place in the ratings with the star power of Katie Couric. So the network is going the homegrown route with its new anchor, Scott Pelley, a 22-year veteran of the news division whose tireless reporting has helped make 60 Minutes the most-watched news program on television. We asked the Texas native to share his thoughts on becoming ...
Katie Couric to Replace General Hospital?
Is ABC canceling General Hospital to make room for Katie Couric?According to TMZ, the departing CBS Evening News anchor is close to signing a $20 million deal with ...
The Biz: CBS Pulls Couric Talk Show Offer
And then there was one?CBS no longer has an offer out to Katie Couric for a syndicated talk show, according to people familiar with the discussions. That would put ABC in line for the services of the departing CBS Evening News anchor.CBS was interested in keeping Couric in the family with a daytime syndicated program, but the negotiations have bogged down over the issue ...
Keith Olbermann Responds to Pat Sajak: He Needs to Apologize for That Talk Show
Pat Sajak apologized Wednesday for being the first to put Keith Olbermann on the air. However, the MSNBC anchor thinks Sajak needs to atone for something else. "I think if he needs to apologize for anything, it needs to be that talk show," the Countdown host told The Hollywood Reporter. "When he was canceled, he was replaced by a crime-and-skin series called Silk Stalkings, for God's sake. Obviously, we guests must...
CBS Anchor Walter Cronkite Dies at 92
Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS Evening News anchor once celebrated as "the most trusted man in America," has died. He was 92. "My father, Walter Cronkite, died," The New York Times quoted his son, Chip, as saying. The newsman's family said last month he was seriously ill with cerebrovascular disease. CBS interrupted its programming to run his obituary. View photos from Cronkite's life and career Cronkite, known for his gravelly voice and tell-it-like-it-is reporting, anchored CBS' nightly newscast for 19 years, signing off each broadcast with his now-famous catchphrase, "And that's the way it is." He was the voice America turned to for ...
CBS Evening News Ratings Hit All-time Low
For the second consecutive week, ratings for the CBS Evening News have reached a record low. TVNewser.com reports that the broadcast averaged 5.3 million total viewers, and just over 1.5 million in the 25-54 demo — an all-time low. The week prior, the broadcast, anchored by Katie Couric, attracted 5.39 million viewers and 1.69 million adults 25-54. They are the lowest numbers recorded for the program since Nielsen began tracking network evening newscast ratings during the 1987-88 season. — J.R. WhalenRelated:• If Couric Exits CBS, Who Could Fill the Anchor Chair?
Tom Brokaw: I Warned Katie About Evening News
Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw tells the Boston Herald he warned Katie Couric about moving from morning to evening news."I told her when she left that it's a dive off the high board," Brokaw said. "This is harder than it looks, to go from the morning to the evening."He feels CBS shares some of the blame for CBS Evening News' declining ratings since Couric took over the anchor chair. "I think that they made a number of mistakes in terms of how they marketed her and what their approach to the news was."Couric's low ratings have fueled speculation that CBS may replace her after the 2009 presidential inauguration. — J.R. WhalenRelated:• Buzz Builds That Couric Is Eyeing Exit from CBS• The Biz: If Couric Exits CBS, Who Could Fill the Anchor Chair?
Couric Asks Presidential Hopefuls About Intimate Affairs
Wednesday on CBS Evening News, Katie Couric asks 10 presidential contenders to weigh in on the issue of politicians making for strange bedfellows — namely, with people who aren't their spouse. According to the New York Daily News, when asked about the public's reservations about backing a cheater, Hillary Clinton says, "I can certainly understand [that]. That is their perfect right. But I think that would be a tough standard for most [figures] of American history to be able to meet." (Who might she be alluding to...?)Another qualified perspective came from Rudy Giuliani, who admits, "I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes in my life — and not just in that area. I try to learn from them so I don't repeat them." Citing his Catholic upbringing, he then said, "I mean, we're all sinners. We're all struggling.... We ask for forgiveness."
Ratings: HBO's Not-so-big Love, Closer's Record Finale
• The racy Tell Me You Love Me bedded only 910,000 viewers with its Sunday debut, falling 53 percent below HBO's month-prior average in the time slot and coming up way short versus the premieres of, say, John from Cincinnati (3.4 mil), Big Love (4.6 mil) and Rome (3.8 mil). As a result, lead-out Curb Your Enthusiasm drew its lowest season-premiere audience ever, 1.17 mil.• Monday's season-ender for TNT's The Closer delivered 9.2 million viewers, setting a new all-time high for an ad-supported cable series telecast (besting The Closer's Season 3 opener).• Katie Couric's jaunt to Iraq enlisted 5.46 mil, matching Evening News' previous all-time low.• Nick's iCarly accumulated 13 million viewers over its entire premiere weekend.
CBS Boss Calls Couric Replacement Talk "Insulting"
Offering Katie Couric some much-needed support in the wake of a New York Magazine profile that got tongues wagging about the Evening News anchor's days being numbered, CBS News president Sean McManus said he plans to see Couric fronting the newscast into 2010. "She has a five-year contract with CBS to anchor the evening news," McManus tells the Associated Press. "All of us, including Katie, expect her to be anchoring the evening news in her fifth year." McManus takes issue with news-biz bloggers who went so far as to solicit reader votes on who should replace Couric in the event she is ousted, calling such speculation-for-sport "absurd" and "insulting." (Whew, glad I stopped short of posting that particular poll!)
Katie Couric Calls Her Critics "Unforgiving," "Primal"
In a sitdown with New York Magazine, Katie Couric admits to having days "when I'm like, 'Oh my god, what did I do?'" with regards to the cold reception given her CBS Evening News cast. That said, she takes issue with those who find a certain glee in her woes. "I've gone through a bit of a feeding frenzy and there's blood in the water. This person who's been successful isn't so great, and finally she's being put in her place.... That kind of mentality [is] fairly primal." Other choice sound bites from the in-depth profile:• "[That] I'm not a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown... it's probably disappointing to some people, because in the arc of the story, that's what they want to see."• "I underestimated the feeling that some might have that I was a morning-show personality and not a credible news person. Which I, quite frankly, think is patently unfair."• On the topic of peers who have slammed her "anonymously" in the press (no less than Bob Schieffer and Lesley...
Dan Rather Says CBS News Is Tarted Up; CBS CEO Calls Remark "Sexist"
During a Monday call to MSNBC's Morning Joe program, Dan Rather shared his qualified take on why CBS Evening News has yet to emerge from the ratings basement (where he left it upon his March 2005 exit from the anchor chair). "The mistake was trying to bring the Today show ethos to the Evening News and dumb it down/tart it up, in hopes of attracting a younger audience," the veteran newsman said.Rather called current anchor Katie Couric "a nice person," but said that trying to change networks and jobs in one fell swoop, as she famously and publicly did, "is always difficult."UPDATE: Per TV Week, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said at a Tuesday breakfast conference that he is "surprised at the vitriol directed at [Couric]," and accused Rather of taking a "cheap shot" with his "sexist" remarks. "Give [Katie] a break," Moonves urged the crowd.
Ratings: Red-hot Army Wives, Ice-cold Couric
• Army Wives debuted to 3.5 million total viewers on Sunday, making it the most-watched series premiere in Lifetime's 23-year history.• The penultimate episode of The Sopranos drew eight million, a 300,000 week-to-week bump and the series' second-most-watched episode of the year.• The MTV Movie Awards (3.6 mil) were up 13 percent versus last year.• Some 4.7 million feasted on the Season 3 premiere of The Next Food Network Star, making it the cabler's best-performing premiere ever.• The Riches' season finale audience (1.8 mil) represented a 54 percent drop from the series opener.• CBS Evening News averaged 5.5 mil last week, its lowest draw since at least 1987.
Exec Shares "Frustration" over Waning CBS News
Newly appointed CBS News senior vice president Paul Friedman has been put in charge of, among other things, bolstering Katie Couric's struggling Evening News-cast. Speaking to the latest, far-from-greatest ratings, Friedman tells the Hollywood Reporter, "Obviously it's not the best news.... But we know we're on the right track now," having recently amped up the program's hard-news content. "Our frustration is that the program is so much better [than when Couric first seized the reins], and we just need people to notice that. We alienated, clearly, a significant part of our audience, [and] we've got to get them to check in again."
Charles and Brian, But Not Katie, Know About Popular
A Gallup survey released on Thursday confirms one secret to Katie Couric's lack of success. Whereas rival evening news anchors Charles Gibson and Brian Williams are viewed positively by 62 percent and 59 percent of viewers, respectively, Katie only merits a thumbs-up from barely half the sample. What's more, the face of CBS Evening News has a full 29 percent of respondents viewing her negatively, as in they simply "don't like her" — a likability that, the AP notes, arose during Legs' final years at The Today Show.
Short Cuts: Katie Couric, Heroes and More
CBS has inked a deal to stream Evening News with Katie Couric on Sprint cell phones, starting in April. Also coming to that itty-bitty screen: full episodes of Jericho.... A May 1 DVD release date has been set for Alpha Dog, featuring the captivating Amber Heard.... Have a theory about what's coming up on Heroes? Share it here at NBC.com. The best ones are airing on NBC. The worst ones will be mercilessly laughed and laughed and laughed at by Peacock interns.
CBS Makes "Aggressive Move" to Help Katie Couric
CBS News is expected to announce on Thursday that Rome Hartman is being ousted as CBS Evening News' executive producer, with former CNN and MSNBC prez Rick Kaplan to take his place. "Changes had to be made," a source tells the New York Post, alluding to Katie Couric's February-sweeps ratings, which again found her a distant third and, worse, delivering a six-percent smaller audience than Bob Schieffer drew a year ago. Adds the Post's insider, "This was a competitive move, an aggressive move by [CBS News president] Sean [McManus]." And if this doesn't work? We CGI in a third, fabulous gam for K.C.
Ratings: Giants-Cowboys Scores Massive Touchdown
Sunday's New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys contest drew 27.6 million viewers for Fox, making it the most-watched regular-season NFL game since the 49ers-Broncos Dec. 15, 1997, face-off. It was also the highest-rated Sunday-afternoon game in almost exactly 10 years (Cowboys-49ers).... Katie Couric's CBS Evening News placed third for November sweeps in total viewers, averaging 7.73 million — more than a mil behind second-place ABC.... Last week, the CW delivered its best week yet in total viewers and adults 18-34, bolstered by strong sweeps-ending showings from Gilmore Girls (4.89 mil) and Veronica Mars (3.44 mil).
And So the Retooling of Couric's News Begins....
The "Free Speech" segments on Katie Couric's CBS Evening News are being cut back to just a couple of times a week — maybe even less sometimes, exec producer Rome Hartman tells the Washington Post. And in the future, the people whose opinions are being expressed will be less-famous ones, the kind that don't already have a platform for mouthing off. Holy smoke, this is my big chance to speak out on... aw, crud, I need an issue.
CBS Bullish, Even as Couric Hits Low
CBS Evening News again placed third and averaged one well-coiffed hair over seven million viewers last week, representing Katie Couric's fourth straight week of declining ratings after premiering to an audience of 13.6 mil. Still, CBS notes that its Evening News is the only of the three network newscasts to have more viewers than the same week a year ago. "Where we were last week or even in the weeks to come is not as important as where we are next year, and even the year after that," spins CBS News president Sean McManus. "We are focused on the long term."
Brokaw Has a Global Warming Warning
Since leaving the NBC Nightly News anchor chair in 2004, Tom Brokaw has been anything but "retired." As host of Global Warming: What You Need to Know (premiering Sunday at 9 pm/ET on Discovery Channel), the newsman posits some reasons for our planet's higher fever. TV Guide: Why'd you get involved with the documentary?Tom Brokaw: I've been watching [the issue] for some time, and like a lot of people I've been trying to figure out the difference between fact and fiction. The scientific consensus is now pretty overwhelming. There are still scientists out there who will be dismissive of it, but more and more are signing on. What's been so striking to me is that more
IT'S OFFICIAL: KATIE QUITS
Ending months of speculation, Katie Couric marked her 15th anniversary on Today by announcing on Wednesday morning that she is leaving NBC's morning news program. "After listening to my heart and my gut, I've decided I'll be leaving at the end of May," she said on air. The longest-serving anchor in Today history, Couric is expected to fill the anchor chair at CBS Evening News, in a deal the Wall Street Journal says will also get her face time on 60 Minutes, as well as her own documentary crew, and fetch her a cool $15 million a year. "Sometimes change is a good thing," Couric told viewers. "Although it may be terrifying to get out of your comfort zone, it's very exciting to start a new chapter in your life." As for her Today successor, a source at The View tells the New York Daily News that it's all but a done deal that Meredith Vieira will fill the vacancy.
KATIE'S TODAYS END IN MAY?
The New York Post, which reported last week that Today cohost Katie Couric is thisclose to deciding to grab the brassier ring as anchor of CBS Evening News, now is offering a when: after the conclusion of May sweeps. "[May 26] is the last day of her [NBC] contract," an insider tells the paper, "so if she was leaving, [that timetable] would make sense."
WORLD NEWS ANCHORS NAMED
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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