Why You Soon May Not Recognize The "New" CBS Evening News

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Posted by RadioActive
August 1, 2024 4:33 pm
#1

With anchor Norah O'Donnell leaving after November, the Eye Network has confirmed a major change for this longtime broadcast that will make it unrecognizable and very different from the other two U.S. over-the-air newscasts. 

It appears they've already chosen the new anchors (yes, there will be two of them, a format that - beyond Huntley & Brinkley in the 60s - has almost never worked in nightly TV news) and unike any major nightly newscast, this one will have a fulltime weatherman. It will also return to New York City from Washington, D.C.

And then there's the proposed new format, which will make the 6:30 PM staple possibly resemble a mini-60-Minutes. Especially since one of the latter show's producers will helm this one. 

But there are ominous signs of worse headlines coming. 

"Another source said O’Donnell’s ouster from the anchor chair doesn’t bode well for the network’s other top talent.

“To me this is a signal that the layoffs in August are going to be huge, wide and deep and nobody’s off limits,” the source predicted.


Talk about an Eye opener.

‘CBS Evening News’ will get massive overhaul, return to NYC after Norah O’Donnell exits

 
Posted by mace
August 2, 2024 10:24 am
#2

These changes will not help. The CBS Evening News will remain in the ratings basement as will their weekday CBS Mornings, which fails to be even remotely competitive with GMA and Today. CBS's one bright spot is the continued success of "Sunday Morning"

 
Posted by RadioActive
August 2, 2024 10:37 am
#3

Double anchors on a network newscast rarely work (as noted, Huntley-Brinkley was the rare exception.)

It also slows down the pace of the show, which is already too brief - 22 minutes with commercials.

Remember when ABC tried that crazy quilt of having an anchor in Washington (Frank Renyolds), a second (Max Robinson) in Chicago and another (eventual fulltime solo anchor Peter Jennings) in London? It lasted all of 5 years and was a mess. 

I think this latest experiment to be "different" won't last long. But we'll see. I wonder what they'll try next when this goes down in ratings flames?

 
Posted by paterson1
August 2, 2024 10:42 am
#4

Sort of strange that CBS News is in the dumpster while 60 Minutes and Sunday Morning do well.  Also strange because in prime time CBS is usually dominate over the other three networks.  Always amazed that 60 Minutes does as well as it does considering it's scheduling is a mess on CBS.  60 Minutes is no where near as popular in Canada, since the scheduling is an even bigger mess.   Maybe if Global continues to unsimsub from CBS it will do better. 

The thinking use to be that a strong credible and highly rated news organization would give a network an advantage in other programming during the day.  It appears the reverse is true. CBS hasn't been a news contender for a long time now at 6:30 and for most other special event news covereage. However in prime time they have been the best of a poor bunch with overall numbers and popular shows.    

 
Posted by RadioActive
August 2, 2024 10:54 am
#5

paterson1 wrote:

60 Minutes is no where near as popular in Canada, since the scheduling is an even bigger mess.   Maybe if Global continues to unsimsub from CBS it will do better. 

I believe 60 Minutes is one of those rare shows where the originating network (i.e. CBS) does not allow it to be shown anywhere until it's aired on the Eye Network itself. So no pre-release, no different day, no alterations. It has to be shown at the same time on any Canadian station as on the network, which is why when it was on Channel 11, they had to vamp endlessly with extra long newscasts. 

I still like the show sometimes, but I have to wonder if its ratings in this country are worth all that trouble. 

Your best best is to watch the segments online at 60Minutes.com. You can see them - and a few added extras called "60 Minutes Overtime" - whenever you want. 

 
Posted by paterson1
August 2, 2024 11:13 am
#6

Global has already shown 60 Minutes at 7pm quite a few times when CBS was still in sports.   They did this various times this spring and we talked about it here.  It also means that any CBS programming on Global is not simsubed for the rest of the night.
 
Remember the mess of the Billy Joel concert on CBS in April running way past the advertised time?  Global ran 60 Minutes at 7pm when CBS was still covering golf.  This allowed Global to run Billy Joel at the correct time as advertised 9pm and CBS was about half an hour behind and messed up the ending. 

Global has not had 60 Minutes in simsub other times over the past few months when CBS Sports has run overtime with an event. 
https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=11920
https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=11919 

 
Posted by RadioActive
August 2, 2024 11:22 am
#7

I've never seen that happen, but I will take your word for it. Maybe they've changed the rules. I wonder if it matters whether it's a new episode or not? CHCH never broke the rule when it had the rights, often resulting in the same news repeating over and over for up to an hour waiting for the American network to get to it. Another reason to hate the NFL!

 
Posted by paterson1
August 2, 2024 11:38 am
#8

I know the shows in  April that Global ran at 7pm were new and CBS ran later to finish sports.  Anything now would be a repeat.  I believe 60 Minutes wraps up their season about the third week of May.

 
Posted by paterson1
August 2, 2024 12:14 pm
#9

RadioActive wrote:

I've never seen that happen, but I will take your word for it. Maybe they've changed the rules. I wonder if it matters whether it's a new episode or not? CHCH never broke the rule when it had the rights, often resulting in the same news repeating over and over for up to an hour waiting for the American network to get to it. Another reason to hate the NFL!

Well you don't need to take my word for it, and actually you have seen it happen yourself.  Here is your post talking about Global running 60 Minutes at 7pm when CBS was still in sports, and both Global and CTV dropping simsub on the Sunday evening.
https://gta.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=11920

Who knows, maybe when NFL is back and CBS runs overtime, Global may go back to waiting it out and simulcast 60 Minutes.  But near the end of March and into summer they departed and ran the program on time regardless of what CBS was doing.  

 

 
Posted by Mavridis
August 3, 2024 1:20 am
#10

Not dual anchors.  They'll rotate.  Maurice will continue to work upstairs at local and Dickerson will maintain his weekend duties.  Lonnie Quinn will do what ABC and NBC have long done with weather coverage, and also try not to get killed rollerblading to West 57th street.  

 
Posted by RadioActive
August 3, 2024 9:51 pm
#11

Mavridis wrote:

Not dual anchors.  They'll rotate.  Maurice will continue to work upstairs at local and Dickerson will maintain his weekend duties.  Lonnie Quinn will do what ABC and NBC have long done with weather coverage, and also try not to get killed rollerblading to West 57th street.  

Rotating hosts? To me, that's even worse! You may like one, hate the other, and you may never know which one is on. I like the idea of a single anchor because at least you know what you're going to get, even if you're not a big fan.

(I can't really stand David Muir of ABC for example, because he insists on the world's longest throws to stories and steals most of the headlines from the reporter the editor assigned to the story. If they have someone on scene, for God's sake let them tell the tale!)

I'm also not entirely sure how they expect to get it sampled, given CBS' low ratings. Although I'm sure there will be a flurry of publicity at the start of this. I wish them luck.

My prediction: it will last a year or two or three, and then they'll blow it up again. 

 
Posted by kevjo
August 5, 2024 10:59 am
#12

RadioActive wrote:

Double anchors on a network newscast rarely work (as noted, Huntley-Brinkley was the rare exception.)

It also slows down the pace of the show, which is already too brief - 22 minutes with commercials.

Remember when ABC tried that crazy quilt of having an anchor in Washington (Frank Renyolds), a second (Max Robinson) in Chicago and another (eventual fulltime solo anchor Peter Jennings) in London? It lasted all of 5 years and was a mess. 

I think this latest experiment to be "different" won't last long. But we'll see. I wonder what they'll try next when this goes down in ratings flames?

Let's not forget that in Canada CBC went one better when they tried having FOUR simultaneous anchors for the National. 
 

 
Posted by RadioActive
August 5, 2024 11:07 am
#13

kevjo wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Double anchors on a network newscast rarely work (as noted, Huntley-Brinkley was the rare exception.)

It also slows down the pace of the show, which is already too brief - 22 minutes with commercials.

Remember when ABC tried that crazy quilt of having an anchor in Washington (Frank Renyolds), a second (Max Robinson) in Chicago and another (eventual fulltime solo anchor Peter Jennings) in London? It lasted all of 5 years and was a mess. 

I think this latest experiment to be "different" won't last long. But we'll see. I wonder what they'll try next when this goes down in ratings flames?

Let's not forget that in Canada CBC went one better when they tried having FOUR simultaneous anchors for the National.  

We all know how well that worked out!

 
Posted by Mavridis
August 5, 2024 10:22 pm
#14

RadioActive wrote:

Rotating hosts? To me, that's even worse! You may like one, hate the other, and you may never know which one is on. I like the idea of a single anchor because at least you know what you're going to get, even if you're not a big fan.

 
It seems to be working for the Daily Show. 

RadioActive wrote:

My prediction: it will last a year or two or three, and then they'll blow it up again. 

Maybe that's the point?...

 
Posted by MJ Vancouver
August 5, 2024 10:28 pm
#15

RadioActive wrote:

kevjo wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Double anchors on a network newscast rarely work (as noted, Huntley-Brinkley was the rare exception.)

It also slows down the pace of the show, which is already too brief - 22 minutes with commercials.

Remember when ABC tried that crazy quilt of having an anchor in Washington (Frank Renyolds), a second (Max Robinson) in Chicago and another (eventual fulltime solo anchor Peter Jennings) in London? It lasted all of 5 years and was a mess. 

I think this latest experiment to be "different" won't last long. But we'll see. I wonder what they'll try next when this goes down in ratings flames?

Let's not forget that in Canada CBC went one better when they tried having FOUR simultaneous anchors for the National.  

We all know how well that worked out!

There was also Lloyd Robertson and Harvey Kirck from 1976-84 on CTV.

 
Posted by RadioActive
August 15, 2024 10:17 am
#16

Mavridis wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

Rotating hosts? To me, that's even worse! You may like one, hate the other, and you may never know which one is on. I like the idea of a single anchor because at least you know what you're going to get, even if you're not a big fan.

 
It seems to be working for the Daily Show. 

RadioActive wrote:

My prediction: it will last a year or two or three, and then they'll blow it up again. 

Maybe that's the point?...

Multiple anchor approaches, like the one CBS is preparing to try, have mixed record

 
Posted by RadioActive
Yesterday 7:43 am
#17

We now know when Norah O’Donnell will vacate her anchor chair on the CBS Evening News. Her last day will be Jan. 24th – just four days after the Trump inauguration. Then comes the “new” multi-anchor format, with an injection of "60 Minutes" to boot.
 
Norah O’Donnell Sets Date For Her Final ‘CBS Evening News’ Broadcast As Anchor

 


 
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