CBS fires executive producer of ‘Evening News’

[kysrsoze]

NEW YORK - CBS News on Thursday fired the executive producer of Katie Couric’s struggling “CBS Evening News” broadcast and appointed former CNN and MSNBC president Rick Kaplan to the job.

Kaplan replaces Rome Hartman, said CBS News President Sean McManus. Hartman had held the position since before Couric began at CBS last September.

The newscast has been a distant third in the ratings behind ABC and NBC. During last month’s pivotal ratings “sweeps” period, Couric’s average of 7.6 million viewers was 6 percent down from what Bob Schieffer recorded in February 2006.

More troubling was the newscast’s apparent confusion in direction, driving viewers away from the anchor given a multimillion-dollar commitment to jump from NBC’s TODAY show.


Commentary:
Ummmm... maybe people don't B.S. sunshine "news" with no substance or investigative intent.

[joeybee12]

1. So, was this guy behind the push to hire Katie...

...if so, he should have gone long ago...now let's drop Katie and try someone who actually worked as a journalist.

[kimmerspixelated]

2. WaaaH!

I guess Katie's next? I never DID think it was a good idea for Katie to be on a serious news program. Bob Schieffer was SO much better. Brought some class and respect to it all. Katie is out of place there. I'm still pissed at her for giving Kerry such a hard time on the Today show.

[bpeale]

6. maybe cbs needs to be reminded

that no matter how much THEY like katie couric, apparently the public does not agree with them & is tuning her out en masse.

[onecent]

8. She gave Michael Moore a bunch of crap also. Every since that

time, I cannot watch this woman.

[saigon68]

23. I never watch her, she is an apologist for the Chimp

[kcass1954]

3. Well, of course they'd fire the producer. I'm sure he deserves to be fired. Those low

ratings couldn't possibly be Katie's fault. :sarcasm:

[tanyev]

5. Quick! Hike her hemlines higher!

That will solve everything.

[Double T]

9. 'The Sexy Evening News' with Katie Couric...........

The male controlled TV remotes will be locked onto CBS.

[Sequoia]

13. Implants and low cut blouses too.

[Turbineguy]

18. They need to check out Italian TV

Short skirts and low angle camera shots. It'll get the republic male audience back.

[pk_du]

26. Nah - thats only a partial solution - her hair STILL

isnt blonde enough - 3 more shades blonder should do it. ( a la Faux)

[Akoto]

4. I'd watch if they put Schieffer back on.

When Schieffer was hosting, I felt as though an actual journalist was relating the news to me.

[Purveyor]

16. I always watched when Schieffer was the anchor and would again.

[dflprincess]

19. I probably watched CBS 90% of the time going back to when Cronkite was the anchor

I stopped on Couric's first or second night when she referred to free speech as "privilege".

[annabanana]

21. Exactly ditto here!

It was easy to see which way they were taking it, and I had NO desire to tag along.

[HughBeaumont]

29. That's unbelieveable.

So not only is she a right-wing sock puppet, she's an idiot as well. Classic. We replaced great anchors for THIS?

[Frank Cannon]

30. Schieffer was hands-down the best of all the evening newsers

Head and tails over those other clowns.

Watching him, I was actually kind of reminded of those heady days in the late 60s and early 70s when news anchors just read the fucking news.

[bigworld]

31. His ratings were actually quite good

The sexy,not so much -- but he actually improved upon Dan Rather's ratings. You'd think CBS would have stuck with a good thing.

[elfin]

7. He's probably cheaper to fire than Katie is

Bet her contract is rock solid with astronomic, bottom line-breaking, penalties if she is let go before her contract term.

The only thing I miss about CBS Nightly is Lara Logan. Now bounce back and forth between NBC and ABC. Lately more ABC due to presence of Woodruff.

[youngdem]

10. Your real problem is your vapid, washed out, 50 year old glee club member host Couric

She is so out of her depth on national evening news it is frankly sad. She looks like a twelve year old sitting at a grown up set, pretending to be grown up, but her body language and cracking voice betray her.

I cannot STAND that woman. For CBS to go from Cronkite to Rather to Schiefer to Couric is as dramatic a slide in quality as one can possibly imagine.

[AlCzervik]

11. hey about putting some news back into cbs news?

imo the lack of reporting news is the problem, they've turned into some awful hybrid of entertainment tonight and some other awful show.

[stillcool]

14. aren't they all? ..

I wish they would all just fade to black, and put an end to the 'news' facade. Imagine how much more cerebral the internets would be.

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. We're switching back to CBS after Brian Williams' propaganda-fest

from Baghdad.

A more slobbering piece of cheer-leading I never saw. Williams' made Couric look like Murrow.

[annabanana]

22. That was pretty bad, wasn't it.

But NBC is STILL better than CBS.

[PSPS]

15. The cable news shows would give anything for even a tiny fraction of 7.6 million viewers

These viewership numbers are something the cable shows can only dream about. If any of the over-the-air networks had a real news program, the bush cabal would be swinging from lamp posts.

I agree with everything said so far -- the news has, indeed, been canceled. It's now all infotainment all the time.

[KamaAina]

17. Didn't NBC also just fire their news producer?

This is happening even faster than the demise of the anchors, with Rather getting, y'know, Rathered, then Jennings' cancer, within a few months. But this was just last week, I believe.

[onehandle]

20. Get a clue, CBS. If you're going to hire a sweater for your prime anchor...

...hire a real sweater. Jessica Simpson is waiting for your call.

[countmyvote4real]

24. Hello Viacom, TDS is your most credible "news" offering.

Sadly, I think they know that, but they've lost sight of their brands as well as their commitment to journalism. CBS News is now just another corporate whore. At least TDS can wink without any obvious cash on the table.

[saracat]

25. Why don't they just fire Katie?

[anitar1]

27. Because she has a 13 million dollar contract. I read this

a few nights ago. I think it said a 5 year contract, involving 13 million. Some bright idea.

[samscafe]

28. So what. The new media is the future.