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'''CBS Evening News''' is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the ''CBS Evening News'' title since 1963.
Currently, ''CBS Evening News'' is anchored on weekdays by Katie Couric, on Saturdays by Thalia Assuras, and on Sundays by Russ Mitchell.

Contents

The Douglas Edwards era (1948-1962)

The Walter Cronkite era (1962-1981)

The Dan Rather era (1981-2005)

The Dan Rather & Connie Chung era (1993-1995)

The Bob Schieffer Interim Period (March 2005-August 2006)

The Katie Couric era (2006-present)

Weekend editions

Broadcasts outside the U.S.

Correspondents

Credits

Weekdays

Saturday Edition

Sunday Edition

See also

References

External links

The Douglas Edwards era (1948-1962)

CBS began broadcasting full-length news shows on Saturday nights, expanding to two nights a week in 1947. On August 15, 1948, CBS launched its nightly 15-minute news show as '''CBS Television News''' at 7:30 p.m., anchored by Douglas Edwards; it was broadcast in five eastern cities. The week's news stories were recapped Sunday night with '''Newsweek in Review'''. The name was later shortened to '''Week in Review''' and the show was moved to Saturday.
In 1950, the name of the nightly news was changed to '''Douglas Edwards with the News'''. When in 1951 it became the first news program to be broadcast on both coasts, thanks to a new coaxial cable connection, Edwards started using the greeting ''"Good evening everyone, coast to coast."''^[1]
The program competed against the ''Camel News Caravan'' on NBC, launched in 1949. Edwards attracted more viewers during the mid-1950s, but lost ground when Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were teamed up by NBC on the ''Huntley-Brinkley Report''.
On November 30, 1956, the show became the first to use videotape; it was used to time delay broadcasts to the western U.S.^[2]

The Walter Cronkite era (1962-1981)

Walter Cronkite took over the anchor chair in 1962. On September 2, 1963, ''CBS Evening News'' became network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, lengthened from its original 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
NBC's team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley had the most-watched network news program at the time, but under Cronkite, the show began what would eventually become an eighteen-year period of dominating the nightly news ratings.^[3] In the process, Walter Cronkite became an American icon, judged "the most trusted man in America" in a Gallup Poll from that era, a status that had first been fostered by his coverage of the JFK Assassination.
With the retirement of NBC's Huntley in 1970, Cronkite moved into the ratings lead and held it through the decade.
Cronkite's image was further bolstered by his enthuisiastic support for the space program, culminating with his anchoring of CBS News' coverage of the Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969.
His 1968 editorial declaring that the United States could only hope for a stalemate in Vietnam is often credited with influencing Lyndon Johnson's decision to drop out of the Presidential race. "If I've lost Walter Cronkite," said Johnson, "I've lost the country."
In late 1972, Cronkite prodded the show's producers to feature two nights of lengthy explanation of the Watergate scandal, which had been heavily covered by The Washington Post but had not received heavy national coverage. After the first half of the report, shown on a Friday, ran for 14 minutes -- half of the air time of the broadcast -- White House officials complained to CBS founder William S. Paley. Monday's report was aired, but only for six minutes.
Walter Cronkite retired from the broadcast March 6 1981, under a CBS policy requiring mandatory retirement at age 65. CBS correspondent Dan Rather replaced Cronkite the following Monday March 9, 1981.

The Dan Rather era (1981-2005)

Dan Rather, a CBS news correspondent since the early 1960s and a ''60 Minutes'' reporter, took over the program in 1981, and for a while, led the show into continued ratings dominance.³ But by 1990, the show was third, behind ABC and NBC.³
Concerns about excessive liberalism in the media, were frequently leveled at Rather and CBS in general. Some of these concerns dated from Rather's position as White House correspondent for CBS News during the Nixon Administration. An interview related to the Iran-contra affair with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush where the two engaged in a shouting match on live television did little to dispel those concerns.^[4] Rather apologized for his behavior in statements the following day.
On Monday, September 1, 1986, Rather attempted to initiate a slogan, as his predecessor had ''"And that's the way it is."'' Simply closing his broadcasts by saying ''"courage"'' after his closing remarks. On Wednesday, September 3 he said what he thought was the Spanish word for courage, pronouncing it ''"cur-AH-he."'' This was heavily criticized and mocked in the media, and Rather abandoned it on Monday, September 8.^[5]
On September 11, 1987, Dan Rather marched off the camera in anger when it appeared that CBS Sports' coverage of a US Open semifinal match was going to cut into time alloted for the ''Evening News''. When the tennis match ended at 6:32 p.m., Rather was nowhere to be found. Six minutes of dead air followed before he returned to the broadcast position. Surprisingly, nearly half of the audience watched and waited. He later suggested that his intention was to force the sports department to fill up the entire half-hour so that he wouldn't have to truncate their elaborately-planned coverage of a visit by Pope John Paul II. Walter Cronkite was incensed, telling an interviewer, ''"I would have fired him. There's no excuse for it."''
On January 23 1991, demonstrators from AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) broke into CBS using forged IDs and were heard chanting ''"Fight AIDS, not Arabs"'' during the show's introduction. One person was seen on camera just as Dan Rather began speaking. Rather immediately called for a commercial break.^[6]

The Dan Rather & Connie Chung era (1993-1995)

Connie Chung began co-anchoring the broadcast with Rather on June 1 1993. She both co-anchored in the studio, but als with either herself or Dan on location, and the other in the studio. Although Rather never said so publicly, CBS News insiders said he did not approve of her appointment.^[7] Chung left in May 1995.
In 2005, Rather left the anchor position amidst controversy and a credibility crisis over false reports broadcast in the heat of the US Presidential election campaign. The questionable report was one in which a September 2004 ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' segment questioning President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard record. The Pentagon challenged the authenticity of the Killian documents used for the report. A number of bloggers analyzed scans of the documents, and rapidly concluded the documents were forgeries. Subsequently, CBS commissioned an independent inquiry into the matter. Although Rather denied this incident was the reason for his departure from the broadcast, the damaged credibility of the news division was evident. After his departure from the anchor chair, Rather worked on other CBS News programming as a correspondent before being fired by the network in 2006.
Dan Rather retired from the ''Evening News'' on March 9 2005, at 7:00 eastern time, exactly 24 years after succeeding Cronkite. On June 20, 2006, CBS News President Sean McManus announced that Rather and CBS had agreed to end his 44-year career with the network.

The Bob Schieffer Interim Period (March 2005-August 2006)

Rather was succeeded on an interim basis by longtime CBS News correspondent Bob Schieffer. Schieffer has hosted the CBS News Sunday morning political program ''Face the Nation'', based in Washington, D.C., since 1991.
At the time Schieffer took over, it was uncertain how long he would host the broadcast, or whether it would retain its current shape or instead adopt some kind of multiple-host or other alternative format.
Under Rather in the years leading up to his retirement, the show trailed its rivals at ABC and NBC by a fairly large margin. John Roberts, the White House correspondent and Scott Pelley, his predecessor in that position, were often mentioned as possible successors to Rather when he retired. Jim Axelrod took over as White House correspondent when Roberts later left for CNN.
In the months following Rather's departure, the program came to emphasize live exchanges between Schieffer and the various CBS News correspondents around the world. In contrast to traditional network-news practice, these exchanges are unrehearsed as part of an effort to make the language on the broadcast sound more "natural," according to Schieffer. Viewership levels increased over this period of time. It became the only news broadcast to gain viewers during 2005.
In November 2005, CBS announced that ''Evening News'' executive producer Jim Murphy would be replaced by Rome Hartman, who took the helm over in early January 2006.
Schieffer led the ''CBS Evening News'' to become the #2 evening news broadcast, beating out ''ABC World News Tonight''. This came after a five-year period of being a distant third. The death of Peter Jennings in 2005 put the ABC News division in flux. Some speculate Jennings's death as a major factor in the ground that CBS has gained in the ratings war. But when Charles Gibson was appointed as anchor at ''World News Tonight'', ABC regained much of its momentum and is also closing in on rival ''NBC Nightly News''.
Bob Schieffer's final broadcast of the newscast occurred on Thursday, August 31 2006. He was succeeded the following Tuesday by Katie Couric.

The Katie Couric era (2006-present)

On December 1 2005, it was reported that Katie Couric, host of NBC's ''Today'' morning show, was considering CBS's offer to take over the ''CBS Evening News''. On April 1 2006, Couric officially signed the deal to become the anchor of the ''CBS Evening News''.^[8]
On April 5, 2006, Couric officially told the ''Today'' audience she would step down as co-anchor, a spot she had held for fifteen years, longer than any other ''Today Show'' anchor. There had been a great deal of speculation on whether she would leave a multi-million dollar contract with ''Today''. To lure Couric away from NBC, CBS offered her the anchor post and additionally, the opportunity to become a contributor to ''60 Minutes''. Couric is the first female to anchor a national network newscast solo and will also serve as the program's managing editor.
Many have criticized the move by CBS to promote Couric to the broadcast chair, questioning Couric's ability to deliver hard journalism after 15 years of entertainment and fluff segments on ''Today''. Critics claim she lacks the weight to be a sole anchor of the ''CBS Evening News''. Also, Couric has little experience doing live field reports from news hotspots nor any experience leading a news team as evening anchors have traditionally done.^[9] Couric's supporters point to the fact that she was once a Washington deputy reporter on the Pentagon beat for NBC News, although this was over twenty years ago in the 1980s.^[10][11]
Couric began working at CBS News in July 2006. During her first broadcast as anchor on Tuesday, September 5 2006, new graphics, a new set, and a new theme composed by Academy Award winning composer James Horner were introduced; similar graphics and music would be pushed to other CBS News productions such as ''Up to the Minute'', ''CBS Morning News'', and ''The Early Show'' throughout the month of October. A new opening title sequence was designed, with Walter Cronkite providing the voiceover. The program also debuted a new feature called "Free Speech" in which different Americans, ranging from a well known national figure to an average person, would provide a news commentary.^[12]
The debut episode for Katie Couric nearly doubled the average audience the program had pulled in up until then, bringing in 13.6 million viewers. Initially, the ''CBS Evening News with Katie Couric'' remained number one every night since its debut, with the exception of Monday, September 11, when it slipped back to third place. For the week of September 18 it dropped to second. However, as of mid-October 2006, the broadcast has slipped back into third place.^[13]
Since its debut, the Couric version of the ''CBS Evening News'' has been repeatedly criticized by liberals and the American left for its inclusion of highly conservative voices such as Rush Limbaugh without counterbalance, and its failure to include commentary from prominent liberals.^[14][15] However, Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor of the liberal magazine ''The Nation'', has done several commentaries for the program. Arianna Huffington has also contributed commentary for the program. Most recently, a dust-up with Bill Maher, who claims he was denied the opportunity to speak about religion during his appearance on the show's "Free Speech" segment, intensified these criticisms.^[16]
On March 8 2007, the New York Times reported that executive producer Rome Hartman was being replaced by television news veteran Rick Kaplan. Hartman's last broadcast aired on March 7. Kaplan comes to the CBS Evening News after stints at MSNBC, CNN and ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
On April 22 2007, the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' reported that CBS News is thinking about replacing Katie Couric after the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. However, CBS executives have denied these reports. ^[17]

Weekend editions

CBS correspondent Russ Mitchell anchors the Sunday edition of the ''CBS Evening News''. Mitchell also currently substitutes for Couric on the weekday edition of the ''CBS Evening News''.
The Saturday editions of the ''CBS Evening News'' are anchored by Thalia Assuras.
Substitutes for the weekend edition include Tracy Smith, Harry Smith, Charles Osgood, Maurice DuBois, and Sharyn Alfonsi.
Former anchors of the weekend newscasts include Roger Mudd, Bob Schieffer, Paula Zahn, John Roberts, Deborah Norville, Giselle Fernández, and Mika Brzezinski.

Broadcasts outside the U.S.

CBS Evening News is shown on Sky News to viewers in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia also by sister station Sky News Australia to viewers in Australia and New Zealand. On Sky News Australia, it is shown with a 2 to 4 hour time delay, which is morning local time. CBS is not shown outside the Americas on a channel in its own right. However, CBS News is shown for a few hours a day on satellite channel Orbit News in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. ''CBS Evening News'' is broadcast live on ATV World in Hong Kong daily (except on certain weekends).

Correspondents

★ Sharyn Alfonsi

★ Wyatt Andrews

★ Jim Axelrod

★ Jerry Bowen

★ Nancy Cordes

★ Lara Logan

★ Sharyl Atkisson

★ Sheila MacVicar

★ David Martin

★ Bob Orr

★ Elizabeth Palmer

★ Mark Phillips

★ Bill Whittaker

Credits

Weekdays

★ 'Anchor and Managing Editor:'
Katie Couric

★ 'Executive Producer:'
Rick Kaplan

★ 'Senior Broadcast Producer:'
Bill Owens

★ 'Senior Producers:'
Katie Boyle,
Betty Chin,
Christopher Dinan,
James McGlinchy,
Marc Rosenwasser

★ 'Directors:'
Eric Shapiro,
Steve Besner

★ 'Producers:'
Lori Beecher,
Kevin Finnegan,
David Frifield,
Nicolla Hewitt,
Mary Hood,
Linda Karas,
Catherine Kim,
Dorie Klissas,
Matt Lombardi,
Yvonne Miller-Halee,
Karen Raffensperger,
Taigi Smith,
Andrew Wolff

★ 'In Washington Producers:'
Andrea Bruce,
Mark Katkov,
Jeff Scott Goldman
Mary Hager
Robert Hendin,
Max McClellan,
Allyson Ross Taylor,
Ward Sloane,
Andres Triay,
Mary Walsh,
Carter Yang

★ 'Investigative:'
Bert Rudman,
Phil Hirschkorn,
Wendy Krantz,
Michael Ray

★ 'News Editor:'
Jerry Cipriano

★ 'Writers:'
Joe Clines,
Mary Alice Williams

★ 'Associate Producers:'
Chloe Arensberg,
Josh Gross,
Brian Goldsmith,
Patrick Kiker,
Michelle M. Peltier,
Jamie McGlinchy,
Deborah Rubin

★ 'Coordinating Producer:'
Melissa Smith

★ 'Associate Directors:'
Scott Berger,
Erin Hiner-Gee,
Bob Rooney,
Patty Smith,
Jill Baker,
Gail Barsky,
Mark Farrington,
Christopher George,
Guya Patterson-Lloyd

★ 'Technical Directors:'
William C. Phypers,
Michael Carlucci,
Jeff James,

★ 'Audio:'
Rob Mabli,
Tom Jimenez,
Lee Solomon,
Brian McGovern

★ 'Video:'
Tom Crocker,
Alan Schatz,
Terry Wool

★ 'Electronic Graphics:'
Ronald J. Riccardi,
Michael Schussel

★ 'Electronic Still Store:'
Mike Williams,

★ 'Studio Cameras:'
Tyrone Jones,
Dwight Brugo,
Clarke Smith

★ 'Prompter:'
Fred Rodriguez,
Robyn Hartman,
Robert Cauttero,
Wade Karlquist,

★ 'Lighting Designer:'
Lonnie Juli

★ 'Lighting Director:'
James Brennan

★ 'Stage Manager:'
Lindsley McGrath

★ 'Stage Crew:'
John Abbruzzese,
James J. Brennan,
Cedric Fearrington,

★ 'Videotape:'
Malcolm Barnard,
Randell Benjamin,
Brian Cunningham,
Trustum C. DeVoe,
Bob Enrione,
Tome Ferrante,
Dan Ferraro,
Gayle Fitzpatrick,
Bryan Hopkins,
Russ Johnson,
Lee Kaminski,
jeff Laing,
Terrence R. Leitz,
Ted Lewandowski,
Robert Liotta,
Douglas Manley,
Walter Matwichuk,
Paul Mueller,
Mitch Oppenheim,
Joe Palumbo,
Mary Peatman,
Charles Pesch,
Ed Petrovits,
Ron Prophete,
Robert Simmons,
Jan Lynn Sokota,
Al Stilson,
Alvin Stiney,
Stevan Strom,
Gayle Sunderland,
James Talluto,
Lynn Valenti,
Bill Weinstein,
Todd Weiss,
Jerry Wholstetter

★ 'Editors:'
Craig Crawford,
Joe Frandino,
Bob Green,
Catherine Landers,
Walt Leiding,
Mike Mayberry,
Tom McEneny,
Tom Micklas,
Ed Petrovits,

★ 'Production Associates:'
Remick Benice,
Jack McCloy

★ 'Broadcast Manager:'
Maureen A. Cashin

★ 'Broadcast Associates:'
Ariel Bashi,
Leslie Cavanaugh,
Jenny Gold,
Selena Powers,
Victoria Thompson,
Michele A. Filgate

★ 'Production Support:'
Yael Marwah,
Alexa Hirschfeld,
Bacchus Johnson,
Candice Leonard,
Lauren Mitchell

★ 'Graphic Artists:'
David Abbate,
Joan Johnson,
Brian Lapreziosa,
Philip Mirante,
Geri Papiernick,
Shelley Pritchett,
David Rosen,
Ned Steinberg,
Jared Thaler

★ 'Creative Director:'
Bob Peterson

★ 'Production Design:'
Debra L. Bryant

★ 'Operations Manager:'
John Michael Pelech

★ 'In Wash. Assoc. Dir.:'
Clyde Miles,
Mary Frances Sirianne,
Sue Ann Staake,
Mark White

★ 'In Wash. Editors:'
Phil Gillespie,
Dan Radovsky,
Michael Faulkner,
Rob Blache,
Kimberlee Shaffir,
Charlie Wilson

★ 'In Wash. Tech. Dir.:'
Alan Cassell,
David Patsel,
Karen Saint-Rossy,
John Fantacone

★ 'In Wash. Switcher:'
Karen Saint-Rossy,
Donald Morgan

★ 'In Wash. Audio:'
Tom Albano,
Frank Gilies

★ 'In Wash. Video:'
Jerry Posey,
Karen Saint-Rossy,
David Patsel,
Greg Shaffir

★ 'In L.A. Editors:'
Gilbert LeVegue,
Susan M. Ottalini,
Maria Nicoletti,
Frank Walters

Saturday Edition

★ 'Anchor:'
Thalia Assuras,Kelly Wallace

★ 'Executive Producer:'
Patricia Shevlin

★ 'Senior Producers:'
Guy Campanile
John Mondello

★ 'Producers:'
Michael Teng,
Erica Zolberg,
Carrie Rabin,
Chris Hulme,
Bonney Kapp,
Susan Rucci,
Kristen Muller,
Heather Abbott

★ 'Director:'
Chip Colley

Sunday Edition

★ 'Anchor:'
Russ Mitchell

★ 'Executive Producer:'
Patricia Shevlin

★ 'Senior Producers:'
Guy Campanile
John Mondello

★ 'Producers:'
Michael Teng,
Erica Zolberg,
Carrie Rabin,
Chris Hulme,
Bonney Kapp,
Susan Rucci,
Kristen Muller,
Heather Abbott

★ 'Director:'
Chip Colley

See also

★ CBS News

★ ABC World News with Charles Gibson

★ NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams

★ The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

References

1. http://web.sbu.edu/friedsam/archives/Edwards/chronology.htm
2. http://www.knpb.org/staff/awards.asp
3. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/columbiabroa/columbiabroa.htm
4. Video of Rather and Bush from Media Research Center
5.
6. Video clip of ACT UP demonstrators, via TVParty.com
7. ''MediaWeek'' article from April 26 1997
8. http://nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/news-20060405000000-nbcnewsquottoday.html
9. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-04-09-forum-couric_x.htm
10. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2002915706_couric07.html
11. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/14307297.htm
12. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/05/eveningnews/main1967177.shtml
13. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/couric_watch/katie_couric_is_the_clear_no_3_45781.asp#email
14. http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/10/03/publiceye/entry2059105.shtml
15. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6372793.html
16. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/41811/
17.

External links

★ Official website

★ IMDb links:

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