CBS: From Edwards To Couric

CBS’ news tradition was born in the pre-WWII days with the legendary Edward R. Murrow and his team of radio correspondents in Europe, as they reported on the events that led to war. Murrow and his “boys” still dominated news on radio, but they ignored television in its early days. When the network decided to provide a nightly TV news show, it reached into the radio division for well-regarded announcer Douglas Edwards. The 15-minute program made its debut on August 15th ,1948 as “CBS Television News;” two years later it became “Douglas Edwards With The News.” In its early years, it was second to NBC’s evening news, but became the leading news program by the mid-1950's. A young producer named Don Hewitt (who would later create the tremendously successful news magazine “60 Minutes”) came up with a number of visual innovations that made news reports easier to understand for viewers. But when Chet Huntley & David Brinkley took over as anchors on NBC, ratings fell for the CBS newscast; by 1962, Edwards was replaced by Walter Cronkite, who gained popularity anchoring CBS’ presidential conventions and election night coverage.

Cronkite was probably the most-beloved of any anchor in American television history; his soothing presence and calm demeanor proved to be a good counterpoint to the major stories that would rock America and the world during the 1960's and 1970's; his sign off line “And that the way it is” became a national catchphrase. In 1963, CBS became the first network to expand its evening newscast to 30 minutes; NBC followed suit a week later but ABC would not have a 30 minute newscast for another four years. 1967 was also the year Cronkite finally passed the Huntley-Brinkley team to give CBS dominance in the evening news race; Cronkite kept that lead until his (voluntary) retirement on March 6th, 1981.

His replacement would have the longest run of any CBS anchor–and the stormiest. Dan Rather was a former White House correspondent and a regular on the network’s extremely popular news magazine “60 Minutes” when he was tapped to replace Cronkite. (A bidding war between CBS and ABC gave Rather a million dollar-plus contract; Cronkite was forced to move up his retirement to make way for Rather). CBS’ news ratings began falling soon after Rather took over the anchor desk but by 1982, the “CBS Evening News” regained the lead among the three major networks. However, the climate was far tougher in the 1980's; the rise of CNN and the growth of local newscasts began to have an effect on all three evening newscasts. By 1987, new CBS owner Lawrence Tisch began downsizing the network; hundreds of CBS News employees were laid off. Rather’s ratings began a downward trend after such highly-publicized incidents as a fight over a tennis match that left CBS off the air for six long minutes because Rather refused to anchor after the match ended, and a very confrontational 1988 interview with then-Vice-President George H.W. Bush.

By the early 1990's, CBS was third in the evening news race behind a resurgent ABC and a stronger NBC. In 1993, correspondent Connie Chung became Rather’s co-anchor; ratings didn’t budge and she was removed from the anchor desk two years later, leaving Rather as solo anchor once again. CBS’ internal travails with ownership changes and falling ratings in prime time probably made changes at the anchor desk less of a priority, which was why he managed to hang on for so long.

That changed in the fall of 2004, when Rather anchored a story on the news magazine “60 Minutes Wednesday” about newly-discovered documents about President George W. Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard. Conservative critics (who felt Rather was too liberal) immediately questioned the documents’ authenticity. Other news outlets investigated; some of the experts cited in the “60 Minutes Wednesday” report contradicted the original report, and CBS’ source for the documents misled the network on how he obtained the Bush papers. Several producers were either fired or asked to leave their jobs; “60 Minutes Wednesday” was eventually cancelled (though the original Sunday program remains on the air); and Rather announced his retirement; his last telecast was March 9th, 2005, and he eventually left the network.

His successor was Bob Schieffer, a Capitol Hill correspondent and host of the network’s Sunday interview show “Face The Nation.” (Schieffer’s brother Tom was a former business partner of George W. Bush and is now US ambassador to Japan.) Schieffer was named an “interim” anchor until a new format could be devised. But Schieffer actually helped stabilize the “CBS Evening News;” the show’s ratings, though still in third place, improved during his tenure. Despite that accomplishment, Schieffer was nearing 70 years old and had no intention of being an anchor indefinitely.

CBS’ next move to improve its newscast’s ratings came on April 5th 2006, when it was announced Katie Couric would leave her long time job as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show to become the first solo female anchor of a network evening newscast–and the highest-paid American journalist ever. (She was also a former NBC correspondent, covering the Pentagon before moving to “Today.”) Couric began working at CBS News in July, but it wasn’t until September 5th, 2006, that “The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric” made its debut with a new set, new theme music, and a new regular feature called “Free Speech,” where famous and not-so-famous people commented on issues of the day. Liberal critics accused CBS of imbalance, claiming more conservatives were on the segment; “Free Speech” was later scaled back. Still, the initial ratings were very good. Couric drew more than 13 million viewers on her first night, an excellent showing for a network newscast. But as the weeks and months went by, CBS fell back to third place behind a resurgent ABC and a still dominant NBC. With so much publicity and money invested in Couric, it’s likely CBS will stick with her for the long haul as it tweaks the “Evening News” format to improve its competitive position–with the hope it can recapture the glory days of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.

NBC: The Ups And Downs Of The Peacock

As the oldest US broadcaster and the first to enter television, NBC was also credited with airing the first TV news program. In February 1948, NBC broadcast a ten-minute daily program called “The Camel Newsroom Theater,” named after its cigarette sponsor. It was simply film clips of stories read by an off-screen announcer named John Cameron Swayze. A year later, NBC expanded the show to 15 minutes, put Swayze in front of the cameras and renamed the show “The Camel News Caravan.”

Swayze was more of a commercial pitchman than a reporter (indeed after his TV news career ended, he became better-known for his commercials that boasted of the ruggedness of Timex watches). When TV was a novelty, viewers liked Swayze’s breezy demeanor, his trademarked terms of “hopscotching the world for headlines” and ending each show by telling viewers “glad we could get together.” By the mid-1950's, however, viewer preference moved toward the more serious Edwards, helped by CBS’ stronger reputation for news and its growing prime time ratings strength.

NBC found the answer to its news rating problems by accident. In 1956, it chose reporters Chet Huntley and David Brinkley to anchor the network’s Republican and Democratic National Convention coverage. The two won critical praise and closed the ratings gap with CBS’s coverage. As a result, Huntley and Brinkley replaced Swayze as NBC’s news anchors on October 29th, 1956.

For the first few years, “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” struggled against CBS in the ratings. But by 1958, it matched its rival in viewership and surpassed it in critical acclaim. Brinkley’s dry, ironic and sometimes opinionated writing style was radical for TV news–and a refreshing change from typical journalism. Plus, the show was more literate and didn’t hide that fact. Much of that upscale feel was due to show producer Reuven Frank, who also came up with their famous closing lines: “Good night, Chet.” “Good night, David. And good night for NBC News.” Neither anchor liked the tagline; both thought it was too effeminate. Frank challenged them to come up with something better; they couldn’t. But it did re-enforce the pair as a team, even though Huntley was broadcasting from New York City and Brinkley was based in Washington, DC.

By 1960, Huntley and Brinkley passed CBS’ Doug Edwards to become the most-watched evening newscast on television. But NBC failed to showcase its backup reporters and correspondents during the Huntley-Brinkley years; and neither of the two anchors showed the interest in space travel that CBS’ Cronkite did. Cronkite’s soothing demeanor, his coverage of America’s space program and the network’s emphasis on star reporters such as Dan Rather and Harry Reasoner put CBS back on top in 1967. The NBC team continued for three more years, until Chet Huntley decided to retire and go into private business. On August 3rd, 1970, the show was renamed “NBC Nightly News,” and featured David Brinkley anchoring on a rotating basis with veterans John Chancellor and Frank McGee. But the ratings didn’t budge; a year later, McGee moved to NBC’s morning “Today” show as co-host; Chancellor became sole anchor with Brinkley providing occasional commentary. Chancellor was more of a professorial type with a high regard for journalism ethics. But he continued to play second-fiddle to Cronkite in the ratings. In 1976, Brinkley rejoined Chancellor as co-anchor, but it did not last long; Chancellor continued as solo anchor and Brinkley eventually jumped to ABC to host the very successful Sunday panel show “This Week.”

1981 saw a major change for “NBC Nightly News.” Tom Brokaw, who rose up in the ranks as a White House correspondent and “Today” co-host, anchored the broadcast with Roger Mudd, a former CBS correspondent who left the network after he was passed over as Walter Cronkite’s replacement. (Chancellor became an occasional commentator on the program.) Still, the Brokaw-Mudd team fought an increasingly popular ABC for second place in the evening news race. In 1983, Mudd left the show, leaving Brokaw as the sole anchor. Brokaw would become NBC’s longest-running evening news host, fluctuating between first and second place during the late 1980's and early 1990's. By the mid 1990's, Brokaw passed ABC to give NBC the title of the nation’s most-watched newscast for the first time since the Huntley-Brinkley days.

During much of Brokaw’s tenure, correspondent Brian Williams was groomed as his successor, substituting for Brokaw during vacations or illnesses. When Brokaw decided to retire as “Nightly News” anchor after the 2004 Presidential elections, Williams assumed the job. Since he took over on December 1st, 2004, “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams” has managed to stay on top, averaging around eight million viewers every night. Williams himself has won praise for his coverage of such major stories as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; he also writes a daily blog about news coverage on the network’s website (dailynightly.msnbc.com). In recent months, Williams’ lead over second-place ABC has narrowed as Charles Gibson makes a run to become the leading newscaster in America.