Michael Bass, a longtime deputy of Mr. Zucker’s dating from their days at “Today” on NBC, left “Katie” last Friday in the latest of several backstage changes there. At CNN, Mr. Bass will be a senior vice president, reporting to Mr. Zucker, according to people at the cable news channel and at “Katie” who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced.
A spokeswoman for CNN declined to comment on Sunday.
“Katie,” by some measures the most-anticipated new day show in several years, made its debut last September. With about 2.5 million viewers a day, it immediately exceeded the other freshman talk shows, but its ratings have slipped somewhat, much to the chagrin of Ms. Couric.
Recently, a competing show by Steve Harvey has been beating “Katie” among total viewers and, more important, among the middle-age women whom local stations covet during the day.
Mr. Bass and Kathy Samuels were the original co-executive producers who ran “Katie” on a daily basis, with its executive producers, Mr. Zucker and Ms. Couric.
Mr. Zucker, a former chief executive of NBC, had been widely expected to leave the talk show, and he did so last November when he was hired by CNN, a unit of Time Warner. He started there in January, amid widespread talk in the news industry about how he would try to turn around the beleaguered company.
Since then Mr. Zucker has hired several new hosts, including Chris Cuomo from ABC, Rachel Nichols from ESPN and Michaela Pereira from the Los Angeles station KTLA. Mr. Zucker had already hired Jim Murphy, a prominent producer who like Mr. Bass has experience with morning and day television, having produced “Good Morning America” on ABC and the since-canceled talk show starring Anderson Cooper.
The relationship between Mr. Zucker and Mr. Bass is so strong that some of the people with knowledge of his move to CNN said they were surprised it had not happened sooner.
Mr. Bass will not be replaced immediately at “Katie,” partly because the show added Ethan Nelson, another co-executive producer with a news background, two months ago. Mr. Nelson previously worked at “G.M.A.”
But people at “Katie” and its distributor, the Walt Disney Company, say they expect a shake-up after the first season ends in May and before the second season begins in September. The executive who replaced Mr. Zucker just three months ago, Michael Morrison, has been marginalized, according to several staff members there, so much so that rumors are running rampant that he is about to be replaced.
Mr. Morrison was hired in January from “The Martha Stewart Show,” which was televised by the Hallmark Channel before being canceled last year.
A spokeswoman for “Katie” declined to comment.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 14, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a host whom Jeff Zucker hired from ESPN to work at CNN. She is Rachel Nichols, not Rachel Nelson.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/business/media/jeff-zucker-at-cnn-hires-michael-bass-a-deputy-from-his-nbc-past.html?partner=rss&emc=rss