TVNewser got a sneak peek at CBS News’s new state of the art control room Wednesday which will begin broadcasting the Evening News in HD next month. More on that tomorrow…
We also had a chance to speak with CBS News & Sports President Sean McManus, who has had more than a few challenges since he added the News division to his domain, less than three years ago: the deaths of two crew members and the critical injury of correspondent Kimberly Dozier in Iraq, the lawsuit filed by the former anchor of the Evening News and the challenges presented by the current broadcast and a morning show EP who lasted less than six months.
• On the Evening News with Katie Couric: McManus says there is “a bit of a perception problem” with the broadcast; between the quality of the production and the continued talk over the future of Couric. “It’s as good if not better than the others,” McManus glowed.
• On the ‘look’ of CBS News: “As you know, the broadcast didn’t use a lot of graphics in the past,” McManus says. “We hired Bob [Peterson] from NBC to upgrade our graphic look.” So far Peterson’s team has re-designed the Evening News, is in the process of designing a new look for The Early Show and has added more graphics throughout. McManus says his goal is, “to make the stories as graphical and as visual as they can be.”
• On The Early Show: McManus said the broadcast “is still not where we want it to be.” But that interim EP Rick Kaplan “put us in good shape” and helped the anchors “build chemistry…like they’ve never had before.” As for whether fill-in EP Zev Shalev will get the top job, McManus says, “Zev is terrific…We’ll see if it works out.”
• On former Early anchor Hannah Storm returning to sports and ESPN, McManus says, “I’m really happy for her. This is right in her wheelhouse, so it’s great.”