CBS: We're going
hard news in the a.m.
Radical revamp of longtime third-place 'Early Show'
By Bill Cromwell
Nov 16, 2011
CBS's "The Early Show" has undergone countless makeovers over the years in an attempt to get out of the ratings basement.
None of them worked.
Now CBS is doing more than just giving the show a facelift. It's entirely revamping its approach to morning news, promising a more serious show with less banter, no weatherman and a stronger focus on news.
Even the name will change, though CBS has not yet said what the new name will be.
The new show will be hosted by PBS's Charlie Rose and current "Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill at 7 a.m. At 8 a.m. Gayle King, best friend of Oprah Winfrey and host of a talk show currently airing on the Oprah Winfrey Network, will take over hosting duties.
The new show will launch on Jan. 9.
The new show's producer will be Chris Licht, formerly of MSNBC's "Morning Joe." He becomes the fourth person in just over four years to produce the show.
The changes, announced yesterday, are all aimed at raising ratings after decades of struggle for the CBS show.
Its most recent makeover came less than a year ago, in January, when the network moved Hill and Chris Wragge into the anchor positions, replacing co-anchors Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez.
But the new look was really nothing but window dressing.
CBS failed to make any deeper changes to the show, and so it remained mired in third place, well behind longtime leader "Today" on NBC and longtime No. 2 "Good Morning America" on ABC, which has been gaining on "Today" of late.
CBS is taking a real gamble on the new format. No other network has taken such a serious approach to mornings, with NBC and ABC tossing cooking segments and general goofiness into the morning mix for years.
But the network has little to lose. "Early Show" averaged just 2.5 million total viewers in its most recent week, the week ended Nov. 6, a full 2.3 million behind "GMA" and less than half what "Today" drew.
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