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Changes Coming To CBS News

Here in Phoenix both ABC and NBC run their national news at 5:30 local whereas CBS is 1/2 hour behind starting at 6PM.

Do you think people who are actually interested in these glorified prescription medicine adverts are just unwilling to wait the extra half hour?

Not sure how many other major metros air the same schedule.

All three run at 6:30PM in Detroit. ABC, for years, ran at 7PM here but, they too eventually switched to 6:30. The CBS affiliate likely suffers here from the lack of a local newscast as a lead in.
 
The ratings have fallen since the summer and are unlikely to change.

https://nypost.com/2019/10/20/cbs-anchor-norah-odonnells-ratings-in-freefall/

From last month, but O'Donnell in the anchor chair is almost making the NBC decision to hire Megyn Kelly as smart. $7M a year?!? I had no idea she was given that. She's not worth half that. Considering the performance, I think the CBS News President's head needs to roll. I thought CBS could write off the poor performance O'Donnell is bringing in, but I thought the ratings would stabilize and I thought she was making less than $5M a year.

This piece from Buffalo is especially brutal:
https://buffalonews.com/2019/09/04/...ning-news-anchor-odonnell-and-it-isnt-pretty/

I still prefer her to either Holt or Muir, but this situation is anything but a good one for Zirinsky.
 
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This reminds me of the movie "Groundhog Day". There seems to be a repeating process here with CBS. Except the characters change every time.

Could this be the end of the CBS Evening News? I mean this as a fictional question with a fictional answer. As in, I have seen predictions of the demise of network evening news for several decades. Never happens. Probably won't, but someone needs to throw that question out there...(once again).
 
This reminds me of the movie "Groundhog Day". There seems to be a repeating process here with CBS. Except the characters change every time.

Could this be the end of the CBS Evening News? I mean this as a fictional question with a fictional answer. As in, I have seen predictions of the demise of network evening news for several decades. Never happens. Probably won't, but someone needs to throw that question out there...(once again).

Telling you if they brought in Josh Elliott to do the evening news they would have great ratings and the evening news cycle would be done for cbs they would have their long term anchor.
 
You probably know that her predecessor is from there. They're not going to like his replacement.

I wasn't aware of that and that may well explain some of the harshness. That said, the assessments of her are not good in general. Even beyond the ratings, people don't seem to relate to her. She does seem wooden to me, but then so do Holt and Muir, but perhaps people want some warmth from a female.

She's never struck me as comfortable on screen and this goes back to when she was at NBC.

The CBS Evening News isn't going anywhere, but I think they make need to make a change within 18 months if the ratings don't stabilize above 5M and they are able to maintain a respectable third place showing. She's simply making too much money for the ratings being brought in.
 
I think they make need to make a change within 18 months if the ratings don't stabilize above 5M

My expectation is nothing will change until after the election and inauguration. That's about 18 months, and near the 2 year anniversary of the change.
 
I see very little of value in all three network newscasts nor much difference in the three talking heads.

On any given evening I could pick apart any or all their pathetic coverage based primarily upon the relative importance to the nation at large. About the only story that is worth watching on any given evening is the lead-in which is usually political in nature and should be of major interest to every American citizen. Other than that, it is mostly camera-friendly sensationalist fodder which is of prurient interest to a minimum of viewers.

Also, considering the network news shows often follow immediately their local shows the major stories have already been covered although you could argue about the level of coverage.
 
Yeah I guess any change before then might give the impression that Trump had run her off.

I'd suggest there are other factors, such as the investment in moving the Evening News to DC. Her experience in DC was part of that decision.

I'm not aware that she has been targeted by the president, although it wouldn't surprise me.
 
Yeah I guess any change before then might give the impression that Trump had run her off.

I don't think the President factors into it at all. Just that a Presidential election typically garners much higher news ratings and interest, and CBS would want to see if that could make the ratings somewhat less abysmal.
 
I found this interesting from a well-known Florida blogger:

"Remember when CBS rushed to get Norah O’Donnell into Jeff Glor’s chair at CBS Evening News.

They quickly kicked Glor to the curb, replaced him with O’Donnell and taking about the grand plans of building a new set for O’Donnell in DC and moving her show to the Nation’s Capital.

So, WHERE is this new, State-of-the-art News Set that was supposed to debut in November???

It was all supposed be be part of the "grand relaunch" and "reintroduction" of the CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell?

Yet, here we are, deep into the November ratings and the new set is nowhere to be seen.

Also, CBS insiders says that the bosses are in panic mode at CBS over the ratings and direction of the newscast.

Many inside the Eye feel Jeff Glor should never have been kicked to the curb after such a short tenure.

O’Donnell’s ratings have been dismal and CBS feels now they are stuck After kicking Glor to the cub so quickly, they can’t do the same with O’Donnell or it will really look bad.

In the meantime, it has taken CBS months and months and the new set for O’Donnell is still not on the air.

What the hell is going on?

Inquiring minds want to know."
 
So, WHERE is this new, State-of-the-art News Set that was supposed to debut in November???

It was all supposed be be part of the "grand relaunch" and "reintroduction" of the CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell?

Yet, here we are, deep into the November ratings and the new set is nowhere to be seen.


My understanding is there have been some construction delays. This was more than just building a new set. This was building a new BUILDING. The CBS News headquarters in DC was demolished earlier this year, as well as the building next door. They are building a much larger, more modern building that will allow them to consolidate several offices around town. They've been operating in smaller, temporary spaces in the meantime. I asked someone I know at CBS what's going on with the Evening News set, and was told they're running behind, but it's coming soon. I imagine when they're ready to premiere it, there will be a big publicity blitz. But unfortunately they missed the bulk of the fall ratings period.
 
I don't get it. Why is moving from Noo Yawk Sity to Dismal Citty such a big deal? The evening network noos is populated by nothing more than talking heads and there was nothing wrong with Nora, or Jeffy, or the other two (except perhaps for the selection of their stories which may not be under their control).
 
I don't get it. Why is moving from Noo Yawk Sity to Dismal Citty such a big deal? The evening network noos is populated by nothing more than talking heads and there was nothing wrong with Nora, or Jeffy, or the other two (except perhaps for the selection of their stories which may not be under their control).

It's interesting that the US and Canada are about the only major nations where the major network news organizations are in a city other than their capital (or semi-capital as in the case of Germany).

Perhaps there is a belief that being at the center of government lends credibility to the newscasts.
 
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