Competitive Intelligence

Dan Rather Steps Down from CBS Evening News Presenting Opportunity for Media Innovation

Dan Rather's last night as anchor of the CBS Evening News, leaving 24 years to the day after taking over from predecessor (and only the second anchor in the history of the broadcast) Walter Cronkite, came and went with a touch of drama and sadness, despite the fact I've never considered him much of a "news man". Here's hoping, as he wished himself in an interview, that his best days are indeed ahead of him.

The larger question now is, wither the CBS Evening News? In an era when the whole genre is encountering shrinking viewership and increasing dependence on the wrong demographics, this presents some startlingly interesting opportunities for CBS to effect change - and, with it, competitive advantage - in revamping the medium for the modern era. Slate.com's media critic, Jack Shafer, offered up some cool ideas:

CBS should worry less about who anchors its evening news ship than what the ship looks like. Any of the current CBS doofuses will do as an anchor. It's not like Brian Williams and Peter Jennings light my charisma candle. CBS could steal a march on NBC and ABC and the cable networks by designing a program that reflects changing viewer habits. It needs to break the code of why viewers have turned off the news.

First, CBS should target serious news consumers, the sort of devotees who follow breaking news all day through news radio, cable, and the Web. Dedicate the program to breakingest of breaking news and ditch the news-you-can-use and heart-warming features unless they're stupendous. Produce a program that's worldly and doesn't waste time. The BBC World News, which airs on many PBS affiliates, is a good model, even if it is excessively chatty for my tastes.

Next, reduce the number of commercials. Right now, about eight of the 30 minutes of an evening news slot are ads, which makes the program too short and too frequently interrupted to be compelling. The Journalism.org study asserts that one reason the network's morning "news" programs have gained viewers steadily since 1998 is that viewers have realized that they often program big blocks—up to 20 minutes—free of commercial interruption. Advertise the CBS Evening News as the program that gives hardcore news consumers two minutes more news per half hour. Cutting ads will reduce revenue, of course, but it will build audience, which is the longterm problem the program faces.

Swing a deal with CNN to rebroadcast a refreshed version of the CBS Evening News in the 10 p.m. slot. One reason behind the evening news fade is that it's still scheduled for an era when moms stayed at home and cooked for dad, who didn't have a long commute. How many 30-year-olds do you know who would watch the evening news at 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. if you paid them? The network's morning shows have benefited by giving busy viewers a two-hour window through which to watch. Nobody expects them to watch the whole thing. A 10 p.m. cable slot for the CBS Evening News would similarly appeal to busy people. Sharing news resources with CNN, which has been on the table before, would be an excellent idea to add quality and scope to CBS's coverage.

Next, CBS News should partner with a premier daily newspaper—the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, or the Wall Street Journal—to give viewers a taste of tomorrow's news tonight. The networks already use the morning New York Times as a cheat sheet for the evening program. Why not use it as a preview of tomorrow's news? The New York Times already does a two-minute show based on this idea for the Discovery Times cable channel at 10 p.m., so W. 43rd Street might not be keen on partnering. What's in it for the newspaper to partner? The Web sites for both the Post and the Los Angeles Times already draw more readers nationally than they do locally. CBS News could steer additional eyes to those Web pages.

Next, hire a brainy and thoughtful commentator. Eric Severeid (good), Bill Moyers (bad), and Bill Bradley (uneven) once delivered interesting commentaries on CBS Evening News. In our increasingly opinionated world, CBS would seem futuristic by going retro and including a video columnist.

TiVo and other technologies have destroyed the concept of "appointment viewing." CBS should respond by putting the goddamn broadcast on the Web. Computers and television aren't converging—they've converged—and I want to watch the news 1) when I want to watch it and 2) on whatever monitor I'm looking at. CBS could start by streaming the program onto the Web at the same time it broadcasts the show. Then it should video-podcast it. Other time-shifting opportunities await. Monetize the evening program by putting it on the various cable video-on-demand services. Do the same with the CBS News archives. Wired Editor Chris Anderson's "long tail" thesis implies that there's money in all of those old documentaries, news magazines, and news casts. Thomas W. Hazlett of the Manhattan Institute urges CBS to allow viewers to personalize the Web version of the news and suggests that it be the first network to bring television news video to capable cell phones.

George Washington University professor of journalism Mark Feldstein thinks a network should abandon the traditional evening news time slot and program an hourlong news show starting at 8 p.m. Producing a money-making news program in prime time will become economically feasible if network entertainment ratings continue to decline. Ceding the 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. slot back to the affiliates would make them very happy (because it will make them money).

Arizona State University professor of journalism Craig Allen, author of News Is People: The Rise of Local TV News and the Fall of News From New York, suggests that one of the networks will eventually euthanize the program. Eliminating an early evening program from a network line-up was one of Rupert Murdoch's bright ideas when he started Fox. Instead of battling the other networks for profits in an overpopulated news slot, Murdoch programmed entertainment at the local level and put his energies into producing an hourlong local program at 10 p.m. for the various Fox affiliates that he owned.

The woolly mammoth was far too specialized—and too dumb—a beast to adapt to its changing environment. The producers at CBS News may be specialized, but they're not stupid. But if they continue to play by the current set of evening news rules, they're destined to to lose. Unless they want future news archaeologists to find them frozen alive in pack ice, they need to stop thinking about who is going to be their next anchor and start changing the news environment. Without subscribing to his news values, they need to ask themselves, What would Rupert Murdoch do?

Indeed! Murdoch might have objectionable politics for some, but he seems to know how to appeal to the marketplace with exactly what people want to watch. Taking a page from his competitive strategy seems like the best idea CBS has gotten in... oh, I dunno... about 24 years.

- Arik