katie couric

Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff to Co-Anchor ‘NewsHour’

August 6, 2013 by NewsMaker

The PBS “NewsHour,” which was co-anchored for decades by the two men who created it, will soon be co-anchored by two women.

PBS announced on Tuesday that Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff would take over the nightly newscast in September, putting an end to the rotating anchor format that has been in effect for several years. Ms. Ifill and Ms. Woodruff will also share the managing editor responsibilities for the program.

The appointments are another milestone for women on television and in journalism, seven years after Katie Couric became the first solo anchor of a network nightly newscast. PBS noted in a news release that “this will mark the first time a network broadcast has had a female co-anchor team.”

The co-anchor arrangement harks back to the 1970s, when Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil founded the nightly newscast that was later named “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.” The two men jointly presented the program until 1995, when Mr. MacNeil retired. Mr. Lehrer continued to anchor until 2011, when he retired. Their company, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, remains in charge of the “NewsHour,” and they were involved in the discussions that culminated in Tuesday’s announcement.

“If Gwen and I can be the team that Jim and Robin were, we will consider that a success,” Ms. Woodruff said in a telephone interview.

Asked what advice the two former co-anchors had given them, Ms. Ifill said in a separate interview, “They told us to stick close together and to stay friends.”

Ms. Woodruff and Ms. Ifill already are close, having crossed paths in Washington, where they both live, countless times, and having “appeared on endless panels together discussing women in journalism,” as Ms. Ifill put it.

Ms. Ifill, who is black, said she and Ms. Woodruff were conscious of the gender context of their appointment.

“When I was a little girl watching programs like this — because that’s the kind of nerdy family we were — I would look up and not see anyone who looked like me in any way. No women. No people of color,” she said.

She continued, “I’m very keen about the fact that a little girl now, watching the news, when they see me and Judy sitting side by side, it will occur to them that that’s perfectly normal. That it won’t seem like any big breakthrough at all.”

Ms. Ifill, 57, a veteran of newspapers including The New York Times, was a Washington correspondent for NBC before becoming the moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week” and a senior correspondent for the “NewsHour” in 1999. Ms. Woodruff, 66, was the chief Washington correspondent for the “NewsHour” in the 1980s. After a dozen years at CNN and some outside work, she rejoined the program as a senior correspondent in 2007.

Tuesday’s announcement was, among other things, an admission that a rotating anchor format is not preferable for a long period of time. At the end of 2009, as Mr. Lehrer neared retirement, Ms. Ifill and Ms. Woodruff and three other correspondents — Jeffrey Brown, Ray Suarez and Margaret Warner — started to take turns anchoring the “NewsHour” with him. After he retired, this format remained in place, with two of the five anchoring each weeknight. “It was a way to give each of them a chance,” said Linda Winslow, the program’s executive producer, praising the team of “really powerful people.”

But the arrangement made production of the “NewsHour” unwieldy at times, and it confused viewers, at least some of whom expect to see the same face or faces every night.

Last year, Ms. Ifill and Ms. Woodruff were tapped to anchor PBS’s coverage of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. “You never know until you’re elbow to elbow how well it’s going to work,” Ms. Ifill said. “It worked really well for us. We sat next to each other and had a ball.”

They were teamed up again on election night. Ms. Winslow said the campaign-year anchor work was noticed by “NewsHour” producers and PBS executives, and “it just struck us that we were able to promote our product better when we had identifiable anchors.”

“It wasn’t, to be frank, an unattractive feature that they would become the first female co-anchor team of a nightly newscast,” Ms. Winslow added.

The anchor change was completed last week. It might have happened sooner, but the “NewsHour” faced a serious financial shortfall earlier this year, which culminated in a round of layoffs and the closure of its two bureaus outside the Washington area, where the program is produced. Ms. Winslow said the changes at the anchor desk were unrelated to budget issues.

Mr. Brown, Mr. Suarez and Ms. Warner will remain with the “NewsHour,” now as “chief correspondents,” each with an area of expertise “that will also help define the program,” Ms. Winslow said.

PBS also announced on Tuesday that Hari Sreenivasan, the anchor of the forthcoming “PBS NewsHour Weekend” program, would be a senior correspondent, reporting several times a week from New York, where the weekend program will be produced.

A specific start date for Ms. Ifill and Ms. Woodruff has not been determined, but PBS hopes for it to coincide with the premiere of “PBS NewsHour Weekend” on Sept. 7.

Ms. Woodruff will anchor all five nights a week, while Ms. Ifill will anchor Monday through Thursday, peeling away on Friday for “Washington Week.”

The two women seemed realistic about the challenge ahead of them: to not just maintain the nightly audience for the “NewsHour,” but to somehow expand it.

“This show is not going to be overhauled. We think it’s a treasure the way it is,” Ms. Woodruff said. “But we do want to do some tweaking. I think we have the freedom to do some experimenting.”

Both women said they saw opportunities to more fully integrate the Web and social media into the program, as virtually all news programs have sought to do in recent years. “We want to go where the viewers are,” Ms. Ifill said, “not think that they’re going to come find us.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/business/media/gwen-ifill-and-judy-woodruff-to-co-anchor-newshour.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: katie couric, milestone, newshour

‘NewsHour’ Appoints First Female Anchor Team

August 6, 2013 by NewsMaker

The PBS “NewsHour,” which was co-anchored for decades by the two men who created it, will soon be co-anchored by two women.

The appointments are another milestone for women on television and in journalism, seven years after Katie Couric became the first female solo anchor of a network nightly newscast. PBS noted in a news release that “this will mark the first time a network broadcast has had a female co-anchor team.”

The co-anchor arrangement harks back to the 1970s, when Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil founded the nightly newscast that was later named “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.” The two men jointly presented the program until 1995, when Mr. MacNeil retired. Mr. Lehrer continued to anchor it until 2011, when he retired. Their company, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, remains in charge of “NewsHour,” and they were involved in the discussions that culminated in Tuesday’s announcement.

“If Gwen and I can be the team that Jim and Robin were, we will consider that a success,” Ms. Woodruff said in a telephone interview.

Asked what advice the two former anchors had given them, Ms. Ifill said in a separate interview, “They told us to stick close together and to stay friends.”

Ms. Ifill, who is black, said that she and Ms. Woodruff were mindful of the broader significance of their appointment.“When I was a little girl watching programs like this — because that’s the kind of nerdy family we were — I would look up and not see anyone who looked like me in any way. No women. No people of color,” she said.

“I’m very keen about the fact that a little girl now, watching the news, when they see me and Judy sitting side by side, it will occur to them that that’s perfectly normal — that it won’t seem like any big breakthrough at all,” she added.

Ms. Ifill, 57, a veteran of newspapers including The New York Times, was a Washington correspondent for NBC before becoming the moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week” and a senior correspondent for “NewsHour” in 1999. Ms. Woodruff, 66, was the chief Washington correspondent for “NewsHour” in the 1980s. After a dozen years at CNN and some outside work, she rejoined the program as a senior correspondent in 2007.

Tuesday’s announcement was, among other things, an admission that a rotating anchor format is not preferable for an extended period of time. At the end of 2009, as Mr. Lehrer approached retirement, Ms. Ifill, Ms. Woodruff and three other correspondents — Jeffrey Brown, Ray Suarez and Margaret Warner — started to take turns anchoring the “NewsHour” with him. After he retired, this format remained in place, with two of the five in place each weeknight. “It was a way to give each of them a chance,” said Linda Winslow, the program’s executive producer, praising the lineup of “really powerful people.”

But the arrangement made production of the “NewsHour” unwieldy at times, and it confused viewers, at least some of whom expect to see the same face or faces every night.

Last year Ms. Ifill and Ms. Woodruff were chosen to anchor PBS’s coverage of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. “You never know until you’re elbow to elbow how well it’s going to work,” Ms. Ifill said. “It worked really well for us. We sat next to each other and had a ball.”

They teamed up again on election night. Ms. Winslow said “NewsHour” producers and PBS executives noticed the campaign-year anchor work, and “it just struck us that we were able to promote our product better when we had identifiable anchors.”

And “it wasn’t, to be frank, an unattractive feature that they would become the first female co-anchor team of a nightly newscast,” Ms. Winslow said.

The anchor change became final last week. It might have happened sooner, but “NewsHour” faced a serious financial shortfall earlier this year that resulted in a round of layoffs and the closing of its two bureaus outside the Washington area, where the program is produced. Ms. Winslow said the changes at the anchor desk were unrelated to budget issues.

Mr. Brown, Mr. Suarez and Ms. Warner will remain with “NewsHour,” now as “chief correspondents,” each with an area of expertise “that will also help define the program,” Ms. Winslow said.

In interviews, Ms. Woodruff and Ms. Ifill seemed realistic about the challenge ahead: to not just maintain the nightly audience for “NewsHour” — about one million viewers tune in each night, according to Nielsen — but to somehow expand it.

“This show is not going to be overhauled — we think it’s a treasure the way it is,” Ms. Woodruff said. “But we do want to do some tweaking. I think we have the freedom to do some experimenting.”

Both journalists said they envisaged opportunities for more fully integrating the Web and social media into the program, as virtually all news programs have sought to do in recent years. “We want to go where the viewers are,” Ms. Ifill said, “not think that they’re going to come find us.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/business/media/gwen-ifill-and-judy-woodruff-to-co-anchor-newshour.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: countless times, katie couric, milestone

Steve Harvey’s New Daytime Talk Show Pleases NBC

March 24, 2013 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

At the time Mr. Harbert, the new chairman of NBC Broadcasting, needed ideas for his stations’ flagging daytime schedules. When his staff members handed him a page-and-a-half-long list of names of possible syndicated talk-show hosts, Mr. Harvey’s name stood out.

Today both men are thankful it did. Since its September debut “Steve Harvey” has been the surprise hit of daytime TV, averaging a rating of 0.9 among women ages 25 to 54. It’s been gathering steam, posting a 1.0 rating in February, enough to tie Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show for the first time. Mr. Harvey’s show is already posting a slight profit, according to Endemol, the company that produces it for NBC, which then sells it to stations across the country.

“Frankly,” Mr. Harbert said, “it’s hard to get real solid wins in the television business these days, and this is just a solid win.”

The ratings have cemented Mr. Harvey’s status as one of the foremost entertainers in America, one who juggles a national morning radio show, the game show “Family Feud” and side projects — if they can be called that — like a feature film, “Think Like a Man,” that made $100 million last year.

Mr. Harvey, a stand-up comic who used to see himself in the late-night mold but now hosts advice segments like “United Dates of America,” is adjusting to all the attention. Recently The Hollywood Reporter dared ask in a headline if he was “the next Oprah.”

“That’s a scary headline, man,” he exclaimed in a telephone interview before saying all the right things about Ms. Winfrey being “one of a kind.”

It’s true that no daytime host is likely to ever reach Ms. Winfrey’s ratings highs. Among talk show hosts, Phil McGraw (Dr. Phil) and Ellen DeGeneres are the closest, with a 1.7 rating among women 25 to 54, compared with Ms. Winfrey’s 3.1 in her final season in 2011. But stations still want to draw the biggest audience they can at 3 and 4 p.m., leading into their local newscasts and their prime-time lineups. Mr. Harvey’s show, seen at 3 p.m. in many markets, has helped them do that for a fraction of the cost of Ms. Couric’s show.

While Ms. Couric and Ms. Winfrey, now on her own cable channel, compete for boldface-name interviews, Mr. Harvey gravitates toward normal-people stories, relationship advice and inspiration (“Harvey’s Heroes” is a recurring segment), much as Ms. Winfrey’s show did in the 1980s and ’90s. Ms. Winfrey must like what she’s seen because she agreed to appear on Mr. Harvey’s show this month, an implicit endorsement. Their conversation will be televised at the end of April.

“I won’t be Oprah, but maybe baby Oprah,” Mr. Harvey said with a laugh after he’d let his guard down a bit about that scary headline. “Just call me little O!”

While many of his older fans are, like him, African-American, Mr. Harvey has demonstrated that he has significant crossover appeal. When discussing the show he likes to say, humbly, that, “I’m not an expert on anything except manhood.” But that’s valuable, it seems, to the women who make up most of the daytime TV audience and are coveted by advertisers.

Asked why Mr. Harvey had clicked with viewers, Mr. Harbert credited “the personal connection between Steve and the audience” and the entertainment value of the show. Yes, humor helps a lot. When a segment is “not a home run,” as Mr. Harbert gently put it, “Steve’s funny.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/arts/television/steve-harveys-new-daytime-talk-show-pleases-nbc.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: daytime schedules, feature film, katie couric

Media Decoder: CBS Confirms Pelley Will Replace Couric

May 3, 2011 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

12:10 p.m. | Updated Scott Pelley, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, will succeed Katie Couric as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” next month — and he will keep working almost full-time on “60 Minutes,” the popular newsmagazine.

John Paul Filo/CBS Scott Pelley will succeed Katie Couric as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” next month.

CBS confirmed the anchor shift on Tuesday, capping more than a month of speculation. In turning to Mr. Pelley, CBS is choosing someone who many CBS viewers already know and trust from his time on “60 Minutes.”

The network’s announcement did not mention Ms. Couric or her last day on the job, but it said that Mr. Pelley will start work on Wednesday, June 6.

Mr. Pelley said in an interview that he intended to “bring ‘60 Minutes’ values to the ‘Evening News.’” Essentially, he and Jeff Fager, the chairman of CBS News and the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” want to take what is working on that newsmagazine and apply it to the ailing nightly newscast. Mr. Pelley described those values as “original reporting, unique insight, and fairness to everyone involved.”

“60 Minutes” is the most-watched weekly news program in America, averaging about 15 million viewers on Sunday nights, while the “Evening News” is the least-watched daily network newscast, averaging about six million viewers on weekdays. Ms. Couric, who took over the newscast with great fanfare in 2006, was unable to stem the stubborn, decades-long decline of the “Evening News” audience size.

Asked if he perceived the “Evening News” to be damaged, Mr. Pelley said no, citing the newscast’s many awards won under Ms. Couric’s tenure and praising the staff of the news organization.

“We’ve got enormous strength,” he said. “What the broadcast needs is a little bit of leadership. The correspondents and producers need to understand that we’re going to be about original reporting and about bringing unique insight into the news, so that we add value for the viewers.”

Mr. Pelley, like the anchors before him going back to Walter Cronkite, will be the managing editor as well as the anchor of the “Evening News.” He suggested that he had aspired to be the anchor for that reason above all.

“The anchoring, at the end of the day, is not very important,” he said. “What matters is the managing editor job. That is: coming in early; working with the producers and the correspondents; figuring out how to cover the news.”

He concluded the interview by saying, “We’re gonna lift this thing, and we’re all going to do it together. Everybody’s shoulder is going to go into this. And that’s the only way it’s possible.”

Mr. Pelley’s comments will likely spawn some sighs of relief inside CBS News, which has been abuzz for months about Ms. Couric’s expected exit. A new anchor represents a fresh start for the broadcast and, indirectly, for the entire news organization.

Mr. Pelley said the plan for him to take over the “Evening News” came together “in the last six weeks or so.” Inside CBS News, Mr. Pelley is perceived to be a favorite of Mr. Fager, who was promoted to chairman of the news division last winter.

In what was perceived as an indication that he wants CBS News to be known for hard news, Mr. Fager tempered some of the network’s comprehensive plans for covering the royal wedding last month. While the royal wedding was taking place, Mr. Pelley was working on a “60 Minutes” segment that took him to Iraq.

While taking over the “Evening News,” he said he will keep his “entire team” at “60 Minutes,” and he said he will have a “very significant number of stories” each season. (Seasons of the newsmagazine start in September and end in May.)

Mr. Pelley currently has as many as 20 “60 Minutes” segments each season — “more than a full-time job,” he quipped. After he becomes the “Evening News” anchor, he said, “I will probably be doing something on the order of 15, maybe one or two less than that.”

He said, “You may ask, as my wife has, ‘How will you pull that off?’ My answer to you is the same as my answer to her: we’ll see.”

He is likely to lean heavily on his producers. He said that when his nightly newscast travels to a breaking news event — say, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan or the shooting in Tucson — some of his “60 Minutes” producers will travel with him, too, scouting for possible Sunday segments.

Asked if viewers will see “60 Minutes” correspondents like Steve Kroft and Lesley Stahl on the “Evening News,” Mr. Pelley said that it is a “possibility,” but not a specific plan.

Starting immediately, Mr. Pelley will need to get to know his new staff at the “Evening News.” Although “60 Minutes” is a part of CBS News, it is a very specific part — one that is housed in a building across the street from the rest of the news division. Mr. Pelley said he had barely seen his “Evening News” colleagues since moving over to the newsmagazine about a decade ago.

Mr. Pelley’s salary is unknown, but is is almost certainly lower than Ms. Couric’s salary. She was wooed to CBS with an approximately $15 million-per-year salary, a fact that later stirred some resentment inside the news division when there were staffing cuts.

When Ms. Couric was hired by CBS, regular appearances on “60 Minutes” were written into her contract, but once she arrived at the network, some of her associates say she perceived a chilly reception from some of the staff members on the venerable program. Those associates said that the chilliness seemed to stem from the top — Mr. Fager — but that view was disputed by people close to him, who said that Ms. Couric had praised his stewardship of her segments.

Her associates said her appearances on the show were far fewer than she hoped for — averaging not even five a year. Her contract with CBS News ends on Monday, June 4.

Ms. Couric said in a statement Tuesday, “Scott is a great reporter and a real gentleman who cares deeply about the news. I know he’ll put his own unique imprimatur on the broadcast and will do a great job carrying on the rich tradition of ‘The CBS Evening News.’ ”

Bill Carter contributed reporting.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=caab4a8c1985ca03ea9e80ed2bc84cb0

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: audience size, fager, katie couric

Media Decoder: Couric Replacement to Stay on at ’60 Minutes’

May 3, 2011 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

John Paul Filo/CBS Scott Pelley will succeed Katie Couric as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” next month.

The network’s announcement did not mention Ms. Couric or her last day on the job, but it said that Mr. Pelley will start work on Wednesday, June 6.

Asked if he perceived the “Evening News” to be damaged, Mr. Pelley said no, citing the newscast’s many awards won under Ms. Couric’s tenure and praising the staff of the news organization.

He said, “You may ask, as my wife has, ‘How will you pull that off?’ My answer to you is the same as my answer to her: we’ll see.”

Asked if viewers will see “60 Minutes” correspondents like Steve Kroft and Lesley Stahl on the “Evening News,” Mr. Pelley said that it is a “possibility,” but not a specific plan.

When Ms. Couric was hired by CBS, regular appearances on “60 Minutes” were written into her contract, but once she arrived at the network, she found a chilly reception from some of the staff members at the venerable program.

Some of Ms. Couric’s associates said that the chilliness seemed to stem from the top — Mr. Fager — but that view was disputed by people close to him, who said that Ms. Couric had praised his stewardship of her segments.

Her appearances on the show were far fewer than she hoped for — averaging not even five a year. Her contract with CBS News ends on Monday, June 4.

Bill Carter contributed reporting.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=caab4a8c1985ca03ea9e80ed2bc84cb0

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: katie couric, weekdays, weekly news

Media Decoder: Couric Confirms Departure From CBS

April 26, 2011 by NewsMaker Leave a Comment

3:43 p.m. | Updated | In a profile posted Tuesday on the Web site for People Magazine, Katie Couric confirms what has been widely reported for weeks: that she will leave her job as the anchor of the CBS Evening News.

“In making the decision to move on, I know the Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future,” she told the magazine. Her five-year contract ends in June.

CBS issued a terse statement Tuesday afternoon that said, “There’s a lot to be proud of during Katie Couric’s time at Evening News. CBS News, like Katie herself, is looking forward to the next chapter.”

CBS is expected to name Scott Pelley the new anchor of the “CBS Evening News” next week.

The profile in People does not include details about Ms. Couric’s future plans, but they too have been the subject of considerable informed comment in recent months. Several people close to Ms. Couric have confirmed that she intends to accept an offer to start up a daily syndicated talk show, most likely to start in the fall of 2012.

Those plans seem to be shifting away from either CBS or NBC and toward a suitor that had been earlier been considered a dark horse: ABC.

A deal for a syndicated show is expected be accompanied by regular work for a network news organization, which is why only CBS, NBC, and ABC have been among the serious suitors to land the syndicated show. The syndication divisions of all three networks have held negotiations with Ms. Couric and her representatives and for some time the speculation centered on her remaining at CBS, with a part-time role on that network’s newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”

NBC was also known to be bidding to land the show, which potentially could have included that network’s most valuable news employee, Matt Lauer, the anchor of the “Today” show.

ABC had been on the fringes of the talks earlier. But circumstances have changed in recent days, according to representatives of Ms. Couric. The Web site of TV Guide Magazine reported Tuesday that CBS sources predicted she would now land at ABC.

One representative of Ms. Couric said Tuesday that no deal has been agreed to with any network but acknowledged a shift toward ABC, saying, “ABC is a contender.”

CBS, meanwhile, seems to be trying to distance itself from the situation in case Ms. Couric moves in a different direction. One of Ms. Couric’s friends said that CBS was beginning to be concerned that despite what that network considers a very strong offer, she might decide on one of the other possibilities offered to her.

ABC would have the advantage of having owned the local-station home of Oprah Winfrey during her long run in syndication. Ms. Winfrey’s coming departure has seemingly opened the way for Ms. Couric and other hosts to mount talk shows.

ABC News also could provide Ms. Couric with access to its newsgathering sources as well as programs on which she could appear, like “20/20” and “Nightline.”

At the same time, interest in concluding a deal with NBC, her former home when she was host of “Today,” has waned, according to the representative of Ms. Couric, who said “They are not a front-runner.”

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=a2aefd87926aecd8a6afef1f9b205e58

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: contract ends, katie couric, scott pelley