One of the major broadcast networks announced sweeping changes today to its morning lineup, with a show that has been a morning staple going away.
CBS rolled out plans to scrap its “Early Show,” which has struggled to keep pace in the ratings, and replace it with a new program.
CBS will make a major announcement at some point revealing the name of the new show, which will launch Jan. 9, and will air from 7-9 a.m.
We suspect CBS executives have already selected the new name, but we here at TVWeek are going to make a suggestion anyway. We’d call it "See It Now." That’s the name of a famous, award-winning CBS News show back in the 1950s, when CBS News was king, with Edward R. Morrow and Fred W. Friendly.
"See It Now" seems to us at once a great nod to those halcyon days of CBS News, yet it’s also contemporary and seems a good descriptive fit with what CBS hopes to accomplish with its new show.
Confirming weeks of speculation, Charlie Rose and Gayle King are being added to the lineup, joining “Early Show” holdover Erica Hill.
Chris Licht, who moved to CBS News earlier this year from MSNBC, will executive produce — and will continue as VP of programming.
Also joining the broadcast are John Miller, as senior correspondent; Rebecca Jarvis, as business and economics correspondent; and Jeff Glor, as special correspondent.
The program will move from its longtime home at 5th Ave. and 59th to the CBS Broadcast Center which is located far away from where most tourists usualy roam, at 57th between 10th and 11th. A new state-of-the-art studio is being created for the show, the network announced.
CBS News Chairman and “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager and CBS News President David Rhodes made the announcement.
Said Fager, in a statement: “This program represents a new direction for morning television at CBS. We will produce a broadcast that is interesting and compelling and on top of the big stories of the day. It will be lively and engaging and worth your while.”
The network described the show in its announcement by saying: “The style, tone, and content of the new morning program will extend CBS News’ commitment to original reporting and journalistic integrity. The broadcast will present a mix of daily news, coverage of developing stories of national and global significance, and interviews with leading figures in politics, business and entertainment. It will offer morning viewers a more thoughtful, substantive and insightful source of news and information, delivered by a team of experienced journalists.”
CBS Morning
Hi jsm1963. That name is clearly an option, and CBS has aired shows in the timeslot before that have had “morning” in the title. So it’s one we wondered about as well. But for what it’s worth, we were told by a former CBS employee–who still has ties to the network–that the name “CBS Morning News” for the new show had been considered and, ultimately, rejected. That title has been used before during the time slot, as has “The Morning Show” and just the word “Morning” attached to whatever day of the week it is (hence “Monday Morning” etc.).