CBS Courted George Stephanopoulos

Last week, FishBowlDC wanted to know: Who wanted George? TV Week’s Michele Greppi has the answer: “CBS News courted but couldn’t land George Stephanopoulos, who recently signed a new deal, with a nice raise, to stay at ABC News for four more years.”

Stephanopoulos and his agent Alan Berger initiated the talks and “the conversation never turned into an actual offer.” Sean McManus “made an aggressive pitch that included talk about multiple plum roles, including Washington bureau chief and chief political analyst, and a high-profile position as the chief on-air political foil for Ms. Couric. He is said to have been told that he would be able to contribute to ’60 Minutes.'”

But McManus couldn’t offer a Sunday show “because Bob Schieffer is assured that he will be moderator of ‘Face the Nation’ for as long he wishes.” More…

> Update: 10am: “Geo. Steph. to CBS was more serious than your blurb suggests,” an ABC tipster says. “It took Schieffer threat to touch off a shit storm for the thing to be scuttled…”