Changes Coming To CBS News

[TheBigA]

I dont think cbs evening news even beats out some of the fox news shows like hannity or the five in ratings.

It does. CBS Evening News has about 6 million viewers, while the top rated Fox News show gets about 4 million viewers.

Cbs ratings for norahs first evening newscast were also down from cbs news average by almost a million viewers and they said that they were expecting a large audience for her first show hosting because they had an exclusive interview with jeff bezos about the moon landing anniversary really? You think most people give a damn about that.

I don't think anyone expected a large turnout for her first show. The reason I say that is because they did very little to promote it. They know it's the summer, and there are fewer people watching TV, especially at that time, because the weather is nice and the sun is out. The NY Post is making a big deal about it because newspapers have fewer readers than CBS News. The New York Post has a daily circulation of 200,000 readers in a city of 16 million people. That's really embarrassing.

 

[CTListener]

It does. CBS Evening News has about 6 million viewers, while the top rated Fox News show gets about 4 million viewers.



I don't think anyone expected a large turnout for her first show. The reason I say that is because they did very little to promote it. They know it's the summer, and there are fewer people watching TV, especially at that time, because the weather is nice and the sun is out. The NY Post is making a big deal about it because newspapers have fewer readers than CBS News. The New York Post has a daily circulation of 200,000 readers in a city of 16 million people. That's really embarrassing.

Of course, the Post and all other newspapers still have online readers who aren't included in the circulation figures unless they purchase online subscriptions. The problem is that many, if not most, online consumers of newspaper content are only there for the stuff they can get free -- which is not much from the Times but a whole lot from the Post -- and have no loyalty to any particular paper, only reading stories or features that interest them on that particular day. If Google News suggests some other paper's story on a particular event first, then that's where the reader will get the story. Still, I think it's safe to say that Post content reaches considerably more than 200,000 New Yorkers a day, just not the entire physical newspaper.

 

[TheBigA]

Of course, the Post and all other newspapers still have online readers who aren't included in the circulation figures

If you're going to bring up online readers, what about online viewers to the CBS Evening News? Click here and you can watch Nora on demand:

https://www.cbsnews.com/evening-news/

 

[KML0224]

New York City's five boroughs has just under 8.4 million people.

 

[davideduardo]

New York City's five boroughs has just under 8.4 million people.

The NYC metro area for radio is 19,000,000 people. And that is roughly the are the Post circulates in.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/cbs-news-maria-elena-salinas-1203275594/

Another change coming to CBS News is Maria Elena Salinas joining the network.

Maria Elena Salinas, one of the best-known anchors in Spanish-language broadcasting, will join CBS News as a contributor, Susan Zirinsky, the unit’s president, told staffers Monday.

Salinas stepped down from her role at Univision at the end of 2017 after an on-air tenure of more than three decades. She is expected to contribute reports across CBS News broadcasts and to appear during coverage of the run-up to the 2020 election.

“It is an honor to welcome Maria Elena Salinas to the CBS News team,” said Zirinsky, in a prepared statement. “We look forward to sharing her important voice and journalistic credentials with our audience in a critical time for this country.”

 

[vchimpanzee]

O'Donnell hosted a 50th anniversary special about the moon landing and of course Uncle Walter was a big part of that show. That just drove home the point that I have trouble accepting her as Walter's successor.

 

[Don CT]

I just don't know what O'Donnell brings to the anchor chair that any other person doesn't. Gail King was a local anchor for years in Hartford and would be just as suitable for the job.

 

[TheBigA]

I just don't know what O'Donnell brings to the anchor chair that any other person doesn't. Gail King was a local anchor for years in Hartford and would be just as suitable for the job.

Not sure what difference that makes. Walter Cronkite was primarily a print reporter before coming to CBS. Did that make him unqualified?

 

[Don CT]

Not sure what difference that makes. Walter Cronkite was primarily a print reporter before coming to CBS. Did that make him unqualified?

Most anchors just read a prompter, we really don't need any of them. All of the news is scripted out. Cronkite was more of a story teller. We don't have those anymore.

 

[TheBigA]

Most anchors just read a prompter, we really don't need any of them. All of the news is scripted out. Cronkite was more of a story teller. We don't have those anymore.

Most LOCAL anchors just read teleprompter. The job Nora has is Managing Editor, which is the same title Cronkite had.

Do you think Cronkite didn't read teleprompter? That he just spoke off the cuff?

 

[Don CT]

Most LOCAL anchors just read teleprompter. The job Nora has is Managing Editor, which is the same title Cronkite had.

Do you think Cronkite didn't read teleprompter? That he just spoke off the cuff?

Did they even have prompters in Cronkite's time? It was most likely paper script.

Weren't Pelley and Glor both managing editors.

 

[TheBigA]

Did they even have prompters in Cronkite's time? It was most likely paper script.

Weren't Pelley and Glor both managing editors.

Yes and Yes.

Teleprompters have been in use since the 1950s. The job has been called Managing Editor since Cronkite's day and has never changed.

 

[Syfy]

Most LOCAL anchors just read teleprompter. The job Nora has is Managing Editor, which is the same title Cronkite had.

Do you think Cronkite didn't read teleprompter? That he just spoke off the cuff?

I think its more about the delivery of the news like how cronkite delivered the kennedy news all the way up to how a newsreader has a talent for being dramatic in there deliverance of the news stories like brokaw or josh eiliott somewhat. Hope this adds some context.

 

[KML0224]

Can confirm the mention of Gayle King. She worked as both a reporter and anchor at WFSB-TV (Hartford) from 1981 to 1999. Likely the single biggest reason Oprah Winfrey's whole syndicated run aired on the station, every weekday at 4 PM ET.

 

[umfan]

Not a good start for O'Donnell as anchor ratings wise:

https://nypost.com/2019/07/17/cbs-evening-news-ratings-plummet-on-norah-odonnells-debut/

https://www.stltoday.com/news/natio...cle_b34b0133-f6b9-5d50-b39d-320def254ac9.html

I have to wonder if this is really surprising to CBS though. She's not likable in a way that Katie Couric was, but then Katie was dogged by comments that her 'perkiness' wasn't well suited to evening news. I'd be really curious to know what will define success for CBS Management. I don't believe, at any point, that O'Donnell will break into even 2nd place for any sustained period and, if she gets there at all, it'll be because CBS will be airing a major piece of programming. I suspect the ratings will drift into just about 5M and stabilize there. Will this be good enough?

 

[TheBigA]

Not a good start for O'Donnell as anchor ratings wise:

We discussed that subject in this thread two weeks ago when the Post article was published. It assumed that there would be this big rush of curiosity to see her on the news, and that didn't happen. But at the same time, would you be interested in seeing an interview with Jeff Bezos? Is that the kind of thing that would drive ratings? I describe her debut as what we call a "soft launch." That means all the pieces aren't in place yet. At the same time these evening news shows have become less important as time passes, so it's useless to compare current anchors to those from ten years ago.

 

[Don CT]

We discussed that subject in this thread two weeks ago when the Post article was published. It assumed that there would be this big rush of curiosity to see her on the news, and that didn't happen. But at the same time, would you be interested in seeing an interview with Jeff Bezos? Is that the kind of thing that would drive ratings? I describe her debut as what we call a "soft launch." That means all the pieces aren't in place yet. At the same time these evening news shows have become less important as time passes, so it's useless to compare current anchors to those from ten years ago.

A soft launch can only hurt them when the official debut is still a month away. If people are not going to tune in now they won't care in a month or two. Soft launches only work for restaurants testing out meals, not evening news programs fighting for ratings.

 

[Kelly A]

A soft launch can only hurt them when the official debut is still a month away. If people are not going to tune in now they won't care in a month or two. Soft launches only work for restaurants testing out meals, not evening news programs fighting for ratings.

Not really. They will make tweaks around focus group research and overnight numbers before swinging into the fully promoted and re-blocked launch. Viewers won't stop watching just because they have Nora anchor a newscast in the prior blocks and format. For example: If they decide Nora will need to do walk-and-talks around monitors, they will take the time to coach her. They already released Jeff, so they needed to plug someone in there anyway.

 

[landtuna]

There is something else working against CBS Evening News in the Phoenix market (and may exist elsewhere) and that is it is the only Big 3 evening national news that airs at 6pm locally. Both NBC and ABC air their national evening news at 5:30.

When I was a working stiff I rarely got home before 6pm so I am guessing the main viewers are the ladies of the house and they would probably opt for the earlier version so it wouldn't interrupt dinnertime.