CBS Evening News Struggles

[TheBigA]

The revamped version of the CBS Evening News is struggling for ratings. They replaced Norah O'Donnell with two dull men, moved the show to NYC, and changed the format.

Apparently audiences are not impressed.

CBS News facing new ‘disaster’ after ratings plummet

CBS News is facing new concerns after a major change has failed to net better ratings.

www.the-express.com

CBS backtracks on ‘Evening News’ revamp just weeks after launch – with network boss in the hot seat: sources

CBS News is already backtracking on a revamp of its “Evening News” program — and the network’s embattled boss risks becoming a casualty, The Post has learned. Just weeks aft…

nypost.com

 

[Gravel Switch]

Given the last election pretty much made the traditional/legacy media further irrelevant (and I didn't vote for either presidential candidate, but did write in a candidate), I did happen to run across the CBS newscast one night and found the new format to be cringe-inducing for some reason. Honestly, it felt amateur.

 

[TheBigA]

I did happen to run across the CBS newscast one night and found the new format to be cringe-inducing for some reason. Honestly, it felt amateur.

I saw John Dickerson as a guest on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and that appearance told me all I need to know. Dickerson may be a great writer and journalist in the classic Murrow mold. But he's not a TV star. (I don't even notice the other guy) To get attention in today's media world, you need to be a TV star. If you spend just five minutes on TikTok, you'll see what I mean. CBS in particular seems to be oblivious to all of the changes in media that have happened in the last ten years. They really need to wake up and find some people who have the ability to connect with viewers. A lot of that has to do with the simple basics of TV performance. You can hire great writers. You can get great video. But the presenters have to connect with the audience or nothing else matters.

 

[Jean Luc]

Nothing new here. The CBS Evening News has been circling the bowl since Cronkite left. It has become as mired in failure as CBS' various attempts at a Morning Show. The issues already raised concerning the failure of the Evening News apply to all the dinner hour network newscasts. Fewer people watch them and those people have gotten older. So, is dinner hour network news obsolete? Do we really need them any more? Fox doesn't even bother doing one on their terrestrial network. Love him or hate him, Rupert ain't no dummy. Solution: Turn the time back to the stations and step up feeds for use in local news shows (stations can pay or run spots for the extra service). CBS tried something like that in the morning and it was doing fairly well until the news division started going "waaaaaaah." Also CBS News had its period of greatest success when it was run by a lawyer. Maybe journalists aren't the people to making management decisions.

 

[TheBigA]

Nothing new here. The CBS Evening News has been circling the bowl since Cronkite left.

Oh come on. Cronkite was 50 years ago. I really think Gunga Dan was a step in the right direction. He put on the camo and reported from the field instead of sitting at the anchor desk. Even Norah was a working journalist. These two guys are duller than college professors. They don't seem to understand what TV is. Americans elected a TV star with a TV star cabinet. They're doing made-for-TV government every day. The news hasn't caught on to that. They aren't going to get anywhere with serious journalists sitting at an anchor desk.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Who's at home at 5:30 (or 6:30) in the evening? The answer to that question tells you what you want to know right there. Late afternoon and evening schedules are in a pattern that dates back to the 1960s. With on-demand services, it may not matter so much now; with those services, the challenge is to stand out.

Commercial imperatives and journalistic standards have often been in conflict for a long time. That's why media literacy is so important, but our educational system really falls down at that.

 

[TheBigA]

Who's at home at 5:30 (or 6:30) in the evening?

I don't think that's the problem. A lot of people still work the 9 to 5 and go home to watch TV. What's missing at CBS is it's not good TV.

Here's an article from a few months back. People watch evening news. Just not CBS.

‘World News Tonight’ Again Tops Season Ratings, But All Networks See Year-Over-Year Audience Erosion

ABC News' World News Tonight continued its winning streak as the most-watched evening newscast for the eighth straight season.

deadline.com

 

[PTBoardOp93]

Oh come on. Cronkite was 50 years ago. I really think Gunga Dan was a step in the right direction. He put on the camo and reported from the field instead of sitting at the anchor desk.

Oh come on? Once Dan Rather took over, the CBS Evening News quickly fell to 2nd place, and eventually to third, where it has remained since the early 1990s.

Whatever you liked about Dan Rather was not shared by the viewing public.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I don't think that's the problem. A lot of people still work the 9 to 5 and go home to watch TV.

Do you have any idea of the length of a commute in any substantial metropolitan area?

 

[TheBigA]

Oh come on? Once Dan Rather took over, the CBS Evening News quickly fell to 2nd place, and eventually to third, where it has remained since the early 1990s.

Whatever you liked about Dan Rather was not shared by the viewing public.

I never said he was popular. I said he made good TV. That's the problem here.

Do you have any idea of the length of a commute in any substantial metropolitan area?

Once again, the topic isn't evening news as a format, but the CBS Evening News. Whether or not these companies continue doing an evening news is up for grabs. The article I posted says there is an audience for it at that time. The size of that audience isn't much different from what the nets usually get in prime time. 7 million viewers is about average today.

 

[TheBigA]

This thread brings to mind the name Roone Arledge. He was a TV innovator and creator of ABC Wide World of Sports. When ABC News hit a ratings hole in the 70s, Roone was brought in to fix their evening news show. His solution was World News Tonight. Critics called it Wide World Of News. Roone took a lot of the energy of sports presentation and applied it to news. He started with three anchors in three different cities. He had lots of video and exciting graphics. He did that 40 years ago, and it changed TV. Unfortunately all of that innovation has been forgotten, and we're back to anchors sitting at desks.

TV sports pioneer, MNF creator Arledge dies

Roone Arledge, the TV sports visionary who made Monday Night Football a national viewing habit, died

www.espn.com

We need a Roone today who can reinvigorate TV news and make it relevant in the age of TikTok and YouTube.

 

[Jean Luc]

Oh come on. Cronkite was 50 years ago. I really think Gunga Dan was a step in the right direction. He put on the camo and reported from the field instead of sitting at the anchor desk. Even Norah was a working journalist. These two guys are duller than college professors. They don't seem to understand what TV is. Americans elected a TV star with a TV star cabinet. They're doing made-for-TV government every day. The news hasn't caught on to that. They aren't going to get anywhere with serious journalists sitting at an anchor desk.

My point exactly. The decline has been going on since Cronkite left (44 years ago, not 50). Walter demanded the title of "managing editor," which Douglas Edwards did not have but everybody has had since. Managing editors sit at a desk. They do not go out and cover stories. Reporters cover stories. Big footing by some TV star does not make for good reporting. It's a stunt, nothing more.

Besides, why does somebody reading news copy off a TelePrompTer have to be a journalist? In Europe, they call them presenters and presenting is what they do. Instead of giving the job to Rather, maybe they should have hired Regis. The fact that somebody excels at field report is no reason to make them a "presenter." This is just the Peter Principle at work.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

But World News Tonight is, as cited just above, doing fine in today’s world. Muir mostly sits at a desk—yes, he anchors from sites of major stories like the wildfires or tragic mass shootings. Nothing has been forgotten there; the show has taken the legacy of the original and evolved to stay current. It has a s—t ton of video, moves at a sometimes dizzying pace and splashes graphics all over the place. It’s TikTok on TV in the news space.

Faced with that and a similar, albeit not quite as frenetic, approach over at NBC, CBS tried to offer a different approach. Longer storytelling, less graphics blaring breaking news on darn near every story. Less jumping from report to report like someone who has chugged three Red Bulls before going on air and mainlining nicotine while actually broadcasting.

That alternative has not clicked, but it was also given about one Scaramucci to try to find its footing before the tinkering started. One would expect that when the architect moved on shortly after launch, but nonetheless, the sample size was minuscule.

It’s a one-network issue that goes deeper than who happens to be sitting at the desk.

 

[AbrahamJSimpson]

Managing editors sit at a desk. They do not go out and cover stories.

Has someone told David Muir that? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them use the “special edition” thing on ABC which almost always means Muir is out in the field at some major catastrophic event. Of course there are other correspondents on scene, but he is not chained to his desk.

Reporters cover stories. Big footing by some TV star does not make for good reporting. It's a stunt, nothing more.

So they sit at their desk and also are stars who are only doing stunts if they aren’t at the desk.

Besides, why does somebody reading news copy off a TelePrompTer have to be a journalist?

And here we go.

In Europe, they call them presenters and presenting is what they do.

Awesome. This isn’t there.

Instead of giving the job to Rather, maybe they should have hired Regis. The fact that somebody excels at field report is no reason to make them a "presenter." This is just the Peter Principle at work.

It’s not. But go on with the silliness and “everyone successful is bad” mantra.

 

[TheBigA]

CBS tried to offer a different approach. Longer storytelling, less graphics blaring breaking news on darn near every story. Less jumping from report to report like someone who has chugged three Red Bulls before going on air and mainlining nicotine while actually broadcasting.

What I always say about radio is the softer the music, the older the audience. That rule applies to TV. Slowing down the pace makes for boring TV.

Bring back Roone Arledge and Wide World of News.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Once again, the topic isn't evening news as a format, but the CBS Evening News. Whether or not these companies continue doing an evening news is up for grabs. The article I posted says there is an audience for it at that time. The size of that audience isn't much different from what the nets usually get in prime time. 7 million viewers is about average today.

In other words, you're evading the question.

 

[Jean Luc]

It’s not. But go on with the silliness and “everyone successful is bad” mantra.

Who has been successful lately? This whole threat is about failure. To paraphrase Big A, success was 50 years ago.

 

[TheBigA]

In other words, you're evading the question.

Which question? The one about the commute? Irrelevant when you can delay it for on-demand watching.

What I'm talking about is if it's worth watching at ANY time. I wouldn't watch it if I was confined to a bed and it was my only choice.

Who has been successful lately? This whole threat is about failure. To paraphrase Big A, success was 50 years ago.

I'm not ready to throw it away yet. 7 million is a sellable number. I just think the CBS changes were bad and need to be fixed.

The evening news format is fine for affiliates to include in their 4 hour evening news block. My guess is that's why the nets still do it. But when the local news stations do a better job than the nets, you have a problem. What's missing in the CBS Evening News is immediacy and urgency.

 

[Cold Coffee]

They've only been on a very short time. I'm not going to pile on them now. I hope things improve for them.

 

[secondchoice]

I am sure CBS "tested" these guys. Maybe the testing will show they will succeed in a quarter or two. If they were supposed to turn the ratings around in 6 weeks: who ever set that requirement and did the testing needs fired.

IMHO it takes years to build enough trust to switch news viewers at the local or national level.