CBS News exec Paul Friedman is frustrated. He’s not alone. After enduring weeks of press speculation that his star anchor was not long for the network, then learning the network’s best shot at producing a Presidential primary debate was lost, there’s this: the ratings for the CBS Evening News hit an all-time low last week.
“It’s very frustrating for us,” Friedman told TVNewser in an interview this afternoon. “It’s a first-rate broadcast and the staff is doing a first-rate job,” Friedman says of the Katie Couric broadcast.
Friedman has seen his share of ups and downs at the network evening newscasts. He was the executive producer of two of them: NBC Nightly News in the 1970’s and ABC’s World News Tonight for a stint in the 1980’s and again in the 90’s. He is now Senior VP of news coverage at CBS.
“This newscast is at least as good as the others. Neither the broadcast nor she is getting the credit they deserve,” Friedman says.
Asked if all that press coverage might have had something to do with a dip in the ratings last week, Friedman said, “That would be giving all of you too much credit.”
Noting that ABC dropped even more week-to-week (down 6.5% in Total Viewers vs. CBS’s 3.1%), Friedman said, “I see speculation that World News was down due to the reaction” to last Wednesday’s debate. “That’s clearly a premature judgment. I have never been a believer in the differences, week to week,” he added.
Friedman says no changes are in store for the Evening News. He went on to say CBS News president “Sean [McManus] is committed to getting Rick [Kaplan] back there as soon as we can. Sometime in May,” he added. Kaplan has been doing double duty as interim EP of The Early Show since March 6.