CBS wants to move Scott Pelley off 'Evening News'

[mvcg66b3r]

Buzz is growing that Scott Pelley’s time as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” is coming to an end.

While CBS denies it, multiple sources tell Page Six that the network is planning to move Pelley over to “60 Minutes” — where he is already an anchor — full time, and replace him on the network’s flagship news broadcast.

Insiders tell us the switch is ideal because the “60 Minutes” position is prestigious enough that the network wouldn’t have to deal with the p.r. headache of seeming to “demote” one of its most high-profile talents.

https://pagesix.com/2016/12/06/cbs-planning-to-move-scott-pelley-off-cbs-evening-news/

 

[Oscar Madison]

Maybe. Maybe not. This is from Page Six (of Rupert Murdoch's New York Post) after all.

 

[newsmark]

Hmmm. I hear Megyn Kelly's taking calls.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Not surprising because yes hes good on CBS Evening News but Pelley tends to be off on some days because of special assignments on 60 minutes.

Umm I say some of the CBSN talent would be considered to take Pelley's CBS Evening News spot.

Notah O'Donnel is rumored on the list for now to take over Pelley's CBS Evening News Spot.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Not surprising because yes hes good on CBS Evening News but Pelley tends to be off on some days because of special assignments on 60 minutes.

Umm I say some of the CBSN talent would be considered to take Pelley's CBS Evening News spot.

Notah O'Donnel is rumored on the list for now to take over Pelley's CBS Evening News Spot.

Read the article. The morning show is more of a priority - and a bigger profit center - than the evening news.

They should have kept Schieffer. He's the only one who has had the chops for the job since Uncle Walter got pushed aside. Now, there's nobody. Just a bunch of Ken and Barbie clone light-weights. And 60 Minutes is the Over-the-Hill Gang rides again.

 

[vchimpanzee]

That's not right. I like him. I only see him when he introduces Steve Hartman, or for convention and election coverage which won't be for another four years, but still ...

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Read the article. The morning show is more of a priority - and a bigger profit center - than the evening news.

They should have kept Schieffer. He's the only one who has had the chops for the job since Uncle Walter got pushed aside. Now, there's nobody. Just a bunch of Ken and Barbie clone light-weights. And 60 Minutes is the Over-the-Hill Gang rides again.

Yes but the article also says Norah O' Donnell will stay at CBS This Morning.

 

[landtuna]

All this discussion over a talking head?

 

[Oscar Madison]

All this discussion over a talking head?

Only here.

 

[Don CT]

Scott Pelley always comes off sounding too dry and forced. I never felt he was a good fit for the evening news.

 

[TheBigA]

Scott Pelley always comes off sounding too dry and forced. I never felt he was a good fit for the evening news.

I think "dry" is what you want for Evening News. You get too much of a personality, and it becomes more about him and less about the news. That's what the cable channels do.

 

[Don CT]

I think "dry" is what you want for Evening News. You get too much of a personality, and it becomes more about him and less about the news. That's what the cable channels do.

You can still have a personality and not have it get in the way of telling the news. Like it or not but the evening news is still only about ratings.

 

[TheBigA]

You can still have a personality and not have it get in the way of telling the news. Like it or not but the evening news is still only about ratings.

They got great ratings with Bob Schiefer, and he was as dull as they come.

 

[Don CT]

They got great ratings with Bob Schiefer, and he was as dull as they come.

I disagree, I think Schiefer had a personality.

 

[landtuna]

One of the problems, in Phoenix at least, is that the CBS Evening News airs at 6PM local whereas both NBC and ABC air at 5:30. This means (1) the evening news has already been available on two other networks and (2) CBS is in competition with game shows, comedies and local news.

Even though a move to 5:30 would put CBS in direct competition with the other two national networks it seems like they might have more success (in Phoenix at least) instead of being the caboose on the news train. I don't know if other markets are also in this same time situation but if so the same opinion applies.

 

[KeithE4]

Scott Pelley always comes off sounding too dry and forced. I never felt he was a good fit for the evening news.

Pelley reminds me more of Douglas Edwards or Roger Mudd than Walter Cronkite or Bob Schieffer. He's pleasant and competent, but not much personality.

 

[TheBigA]

Pelley reminds me more of Douglas Edwards or Roger Mudd than Walter Cronkite or Bob Schieffer. He's pleasant and competent, but not much personality.

I agree, but when they went with a strong personality like Katie Couric it bit them in the butt. That seems to be the tradeoff.

 

[Don CT]

I agree, but when they went with a strong personality like Katie Couric it bit them in the butt. That seems to be the tradeoff.

Katie was too bubbly for evening news. It worked for her in the mornings but didn't translate to evenings.

 

[KeithE4]

I agree, but when they went with a strong personality like Katie Couric it bit them in the butt. That seems to be the tradeoff.

It wasn't her (or Dan Rather's before her) personality. It was her track record of not being exactly Miss Objectivity when it came to politics during her time at NBC, including her tenure as Today Show host. She was so in-the-tank for the Clintons that I thought her middle name was Rodham. This lack of objectivity, real or perceived, was the same baggage Rather had, thanks to his confrontations with Richard Nixon, and later George HW Bush. Neither should have been given the anchor slot.

 

[TheBigA]

It wasn't her (or Dan Rather's before her) personality. It was her track record of not being exactly Miss Objectivity

But that's what made her a personality. Remove that, and she's just another talking head. And as I said, nothing wrong with that.