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CBS News Viability??


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I know this is always thrown around, but at what point does CBS News just say, "to hell with news," as we know it and just accept their position as a basement dweller? I know CBS will always have some sort of news presence, but they really need to take their train in a different direction if they want to make a name for themselves. You have to spend money to make money.

 

I hate to see anyone lose their jobs, but this is terrible. Should they just focus on building out CBSN and focus on the streaming audience? In the near term (2-5yrs), I don't see CBS becoming any sort of competitor to the networks or cable news. 

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I think it would be more appropriate for the Speculation channel than in here but I think to be honest, given how hit CBS News was in the layoffs I have to imagine CBS' only choice may be going all in on the streaming news side and be a leader in that department.

 

I say give it maybe 2-5 years and the only news programming that would be left on CBS itself would be the Sunday shows (Sunday Morning, Face The Nation and 60 Minutes) I think This Morning, Evening and Weekend News will be gone within the next 3 to 5 years (Weekend News may be a lot sooner than that)

 

Some will ask what would the affiliates replace the national newscasts with? I would say look at any Fox affiliate for clues on what that would look like, except CBS might give affiliates an option for simulcasting CBSN programming during the typical weekdays but still maintaining the requirement to simulcast CBSN for things such as Special Reports, etc. that would be the only difference between CBS and Fox.

 

Laugh at it, call me crazy all you want but I just don't see This Morning, Evening, or Weekend News lasting anymore than 5 years or even shorter than 5 years.

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I really don't think CBS would go as far as to axe the Evening News entirely. That would be suicide. Its ratings may be crap but the inevitable headlines and stories about how disrespectful this would be to Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather and such would probably rankle the suits too much for them to go through with it, no matter how desperate ViacomCBS gets.

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You can't really expand news at the local level to fill any possible national gaps with all the cuts that have been happening on and off the air this week.

Using CBSN to fill the gap makes sense in theory--remember, CBSN effectively produced much of the Weekend News before all of this and they kinda sorta did again when the Evening News melted down a few days back--and then the coronavirus hit. They're as much on pins and needles as anything else right now.

The easy solution to that would be for the parent company to boost CBSN's resources and reach, and there absolutely was a time when merger talks where in their infancy where there was an appetite for that. I'm not sure that's the case now.

Evening will never go away. Ever. But because we've seen it happen before in CBS's history, you can't necessarily say that for Morning--or at least its current incarnation--although it does make money for the network. It would be fair to debate what a national morning news from CBS would look like when Gayle retires.

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I don't think they can ever consistently compete against Today and GMA. The public seems to like their style better, and aping them isn't in CBS's DNA. This Morning is a counterweight - little-loved by the masses, but given more respect by the intelligentsia. They repeated the strategy with Colbert's Late Show before its style gained broader relevance.

 

The entire network clears This Morning, right? Because CBS's morning news has been so historically moribund that I know several affiliates that didn't bother to clear whatever they were airing against Today and GMA for years; didn't WWL just never run The Early Show?

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42 minutes ago, TSSZNews said:

You can't really expand news at the local level to fill any possible national gaps with all the cuts that have been happening on and off the air this week.

Using CBSN to fill the gap makes sense in theory--remember, CBSN effectively produced much of the Weekend News before all of this and they kinda sorta did again when the Evening News melted down a few days back--and then the coronavirus hit. They're as much on pins and needles as anything else right now.

The easy solution to that would be for the parent company to boost CBSN's resources and reach, and there absolutely was a time when merger talks where in their infancy where there was an appetite for that. I'm not sure that's the case now.

Evening will never go away. Ever. But because we've seen it happen before in CBS's history, you can't necessarily say that for Morning--or at least its current incarnation--although it does make money for the network. It would be fair to debate what a national morning news from CBS would look like when Gayle retires.

I think that CBSN will likely make the move over to the mainstream side but I also think it should be optional for the affiliates to carry a CBSN-style Morning and Evening Newscasts rather than be a requirement to carry it. If the affiliates want to air more local newscasts let them do so.

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If either Evening News or This Morning is dropped, would this fix anything? Would a replacement actually get better ratings? Would they fix the layoffs problems? No. Would expanding CBSN's presence on the network help? I think it could. They've done wonders with the Weekend News.

 

I watch CBS News regularly and I want them to have higher ratings as much as the next person, but imma be realistic. Any suggestions of replacements or changes will not help. All we and the CBS execs can do is accept that ratings will not change for the better in comparison to the other Big 4 networks (World News Tonight is the number one show in America right now) and just put out a quality product no matter who is watching.

 

This is a bit overblown IMO. 

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Another thought perhaps is to get out of the shadow of ABC and NBC who have much stronger national news products.

 

* Work with affiliate groups to bring them CBSN. Start with the larger affiliates.

 

* Make CBS This Morning optional, with the opportunity to move it to a secondary channel (starting it at 6 am ET for additional secondary options or for the few affiliates that lack local news), allowing CBS affiliates to continue local morning news right to 9 am or longer on their main channel if they desire.

 

* Move CBS Evening News to 10 pm ET (9 pm CT) and make it one hour long. Give local affiliates back that half hour in the early evening for local news or syndication.

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1 hour ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Another thought perhaps is to get out of the shadow of ABC and NBC who have much stronger national news products.

 

* Work with affiliate groups to bring them CBSN. Start with the larger affiliates.

 

* Make CBS This Morning optional, with the opportunity to move it to a secondary channel (starting it at 6 am ET for additional secondary options or for the few affiliates that lack local news), allowing CBS affiliates to continue local morning news right to 9 am or longer on their main channel if they desire.

 

* Move CBS Evening News to 10 pm ET (9 pm CT) and make it one hour long. Give local affiliates back that half hour in the early evening for local news or syndication.

People aren’t watching at 6:30, but they’re going to watch for an hour at 10? I don’t see that happening.

 

The “CBSEN” will likely be around until the end of time but I do believe it will look vastly different over the next few years and likely be a CBSN production in the not so distant future. CBSTM is likely to see a another change sooner than later. 
 

Since Norah has taken over, the gaps between her and #1, #2 have widened. David Muir is being watched by 4 million more people than her every night. That’s just insane.

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I think CBS should bring back the Early Show hybrid format for CTM, with affiliates (and the O&Os) allowed to produce local news from 4/4:30-8am, with the 7am hour being CTM and local segments, and the 8am being full CTM.

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2 hours ago, GoldenShine9 said:

Move CBS Evening News to 10 pm ET (9 pm CT) and make it one hour long. Give local affiliates back that half hour in the early evening for local news or syndication.

Drop the last hour of primetime on the most watched network in America for a #3 rated newscast? Not gonna happen.

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8 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

I think CBS should bring back the Early Show hybrid format for CTM, with affiliates (and the O&Os) allowed to produce local news from 4/4:30-8am, with the 7am hour being CTM and local segments, and the 8am being full CTM.

Actually, the hybrid format existed during the original CTM era. The hybrid format contributed to some of the lower ratings so much, that when The Early Show debuted, CBS mandated that it be carried in it’s entirety (with very few exceptions). I doubt they’ll go back to the hybrid format.

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It's important to understand that the goal of a business, whether a toy maker or a television news company, is not always to be #1. For some, it is. For others, it's to find their niche, or their audience, and sell to that audience.  Maybe expand outward, to the extent that it is possible, over time.  But as long as it's generating a profit, which I assume CBS News is, then it's worthwhile. 

 

Moreover, CBS as a network is certainly profitable, and the network needs a news arm.  So even if CBS News isn't making the same profit NBC News or ABC News is, it's still worthwhile for the CBS network to have a news operation.

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From my understanding, CBS has always had logistical issues regarding it's ability to originate live programming from New York (a limited number of control rooms).  Coupled with COVID-19 rendering their facilities limited and largely inoperable, has really thrown a wrench into things, and the economics of re-integrating into Viacom (and general COVID-19 economic fallout) is the final straw.

 

Another ill-timed move is the "expansion" of news onto CBS-owned stations in places where they only operate CW stations.  Atlanta really got the bad hand since CBS ran their news out of New York, and had to divert to forecasts coming out of Detroit and simulcasting WBZ/WSBK's Boston-centric newscasts.

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  • 1 month later...

When did CBS get this bad? Perhaps the first strike was Cronkite's retirement, and Rather's firing the second.

 

It's graphics have been subpar for about the last 15 years, and their talent is "just okay" aside from the veteran reporters.

 

Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes are the only gems right now at CBS, IMO. CTM lacks alot but it's easier to sit through than the fluff on GMA & Today.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, iron_lion said:

When did CBS get this bad? Perhaps the first strike was Cronkite's retirement, and Rather's firing the second.

 

It's graphics have been subpar for about the last 15 years, and their talent is "just okay" aside from the veteran reporters.

 

Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes are the only gems right now at CBS, IMO. CTM lacks alot but it's easier to sit through than the fluff on GMA & Today.

 

 

 


Three things:

 

1. Poorly managed


2. Lack of investment (CBSN/ Local CBSNs could be great if they wanted them to be).

 

3. Wasteful use of resources (CEN should have stayed in NYC. Money spent could have been better used elsewhere).

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4 hours ago, DENDude said:

They should launch CBSN as a sub channel on the CBS O&Os and then offer the service to there affiliates, when they re-up with them the next go around. 


The local CBSNs should also stay on during the weekend, instead of just simulcasting the national version.

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10 hours ago, iron_lion said:

When did CBS get this bad? Perhaps the first strike was Cronkite's retirement, and Rather's firing the second.

The original sin was pushing out Uncle Walter when he turned 65 (none other than Bill Paley himself made a mockery of the mandatory retirement policy by staying on well past it.) The second big mistake was in picking Rather over Schieffer as Cronkite's successor. It just cascaded from there.

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13 hours ago, iron_lion said:

CTM lacks alot but it's easier to sit through than the fluff on GMA & Today.

Certainly easier than FOX and Friends on FOX "News" Channel, for that matter!

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1 hour ago, Action Newsroom said:

Please elaborate, because the only thing I see it lacks is high ratings.

They probably mean that ABC & NBC shows both their morning and evening news are more fast pace stories both morning & evening shows.  CBS does seem to have more longer stories. CTM is somewhat a good morning show where it more newsies while the other two are more fluff. It only news during the first 20 minutes of the broadcast.  CBS News hasn't evolved but you have to admit that CTM is about news.  I just can't watch any CBS news period.  I hate what GMA has become and the same with Today.  ABC has the title World News Tonight and there nothing about World News unless I watch a clip from the 90s on YouTube.  If you watch NBC & ABC both stories seem to air at the same time and the pacing is fast.  CBS takes it time in stories but it just seems like CBS is stuck as if Edward Murrow doing the news. CBS is like a bland cup of coffee while NBC & ABC are a cup of espresso & cappuccino.  Then you have these cable outlets that are iced lattes.

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