To CBS’s chagrin, the seeming suddenness of the Rather-Chung wedding triggered speculation that the groom had been shotgunned into it. (“If your TV screen turns blue,” cracked David Letterman, “she’s pregnant.”) In fact, this is all about a trade-off-one in the works for months. The 61-year-old Rather, confronting “what to do with the rest of my career,” wanted long-term job security and more freedom to report big stories. CBS wanted a new look for its once dominant newscast, which lost its ratings lead to ABC in 1989. It was, says a CBS executive, “a happy confluence of interests.” Rather got a contract extension to the year 2000 and CBS got his agreement to share his anchor. Though Chung has never had a hit show, her scores on popularity tests rank among the highest in TV news and, CBS hopes, her natural warmth will soften her partner’s edges. What’s more, Chung, who’s known Rather for 22 years, truly digs the big lug. “It’s like having a husband at home and a husband at work,” she says.
The real question, however, is whether Chung will be weighing anchor on a doomed ship. As it enters its sixth decade, the nightly network news is showing all the signs of an idea whose time has gone. Thanks to satellite technology, local stations can now put together their own national and international roundups-and feed them to viewers first. Add to that the competition from CNN, the syndicated tabloid shows, all-news radio and regional cable news channels like New York I and you have the makings of a fatal erosion of the networks’ franchise. The evening newscasts have hardly helped their cases with fresh thinking: about all that distinguishes one from another is the pattern of their anchorman’s tie. They’ve even begun to sound alike. After ABC introduced a nightly segment called “American Agenda,” NBC responded with “America Closeup” and CBS with “Eye on America.” The upshot has been a ratings swoon: since 1970 the three network newscasts lost more than a quarter of their combined audience.
Of course, tossing in a female coanchor is hardly a revolutionary stroke. ABC News tried that in 1976 when it teamed Barbara Walters with Harry Reasoner (a match that proved only slightly more congenial than the J. R. Ewings). Still, the Rather-Chung pairing represents a salutary step. “Having three middle-aged white guys deliver the news,” says CBS News president Eric Ober, “doesn’t reflect the diversity of the viewing audience.” True enough, but that’s also something local stations figured out a long time ago: these nights female anchors share the screen in every major market. One reason the networks have moved more cautiously may be their fixation with research. Some polls show that female anchors rank lower in authority than male ones, especially among female viewers. Nevertheless, if Dan and Connie click, look for NBC to follow suit-by teaming Tom Brokaw with either Jane Pauley or Katie Couric on its last-place newscast. “There are two ways to react,” says NBC News producer Steve Friedman of CBS’s anchor shift. “Sit back, or take them on with Jane or Katie.”
Besides adding a woman’s presence, CBS wants to redefine the role of the network anchor. The plan is for Rather, always more comfortable in the field than behind a desk, to cover major breaking stories while Chung holds down the anchor. That prospect delights “Gunga Dan.” “There are a lot of people who can sit in an airconditioned studio and read copy,” he says. “There are fewer who can find a-way into Baidoa, find the story and find a way to get it out. For me, that’s the most fun.”
Unquestionably, freeing up Rather will stengthen the broadcast. “Dan can get access to people and places almost no one else can,” says “Evening News” executive producer Erik Sorenson. But some see a downside to sharing a 22-minute newscast. “When you give time to another anchor,” says Peter Jennings, “you must take time away from reportage. It creates all kinds of complications.” He speaks from experience. During the late ’70s, when Jennings split the ABC anchor with Frank Reynolds and Max Robinson, the ego battles for “face time” soured the troika’s chemistry. “It was, ‘Who is going to start tonight?’,” he recalls. “For two anchors to work, they must be totally compatible.”
Viewed through a wider lens, CBS’s new strategy looks like short-term tinkering-when what’s needed is a major overhaul. Says Jon Katz, a former CBS News producer and one of the industry’s most insightful critics: “To stay competitive, the network newscasts must radically change their content. How can they reflect diversity of race and gender? Should they start covering religion, architecture and technology? What about allowing different points of view? Or going back to investigative reporting and commentary? But they are willing to do none of this. All they do is pursue the time-honored practice of hiring and firing anchors.”
In fairness, all three news shows are trying to venture beyond the headline services of the Cronkite era. Instead of hopscotching from one story to the next, they now select only a few and serve them up with more depth, analysis and perspective. But while pursuing this lofty course-call it the MacNeil-Lehrerizing of the news-the networks are simultaneously embracing an opposite tactic: infusing their nightly editions with gimmicks swiped directly from local news. Witness the outbreak of “happy talk” chitchat, the explosion of jazzy graphics and musical effects, the proliferating use of feel-good features (Tom Brokaw. “Tonight, partners, a woman and her dog working together. . . “). It’s no accident that the trend coincides with the ascension of local-station managers-with their “Action News” mentalities-into the networks’ executive suites. Indeed, some see the Rather-Chung pairing-fatherly male, vivacious female-as a classic local-news format. “All that’s missing is the good-humored weatherman,” says Katz.
By most forecasts, things can only get worse. As the competition from hundreds of cable channels eats away at the Big Three’s ratings and revenues, the networks’ bottom-line overseers will continue to downsize their news divisions. Some envision the divisions ending up as little more than electronic wire services, feeding unedited footage and brief reports to local stations to use as they choose for their evening roundups. Others predict that, by the end of the century, only one of the three networks will still be in the news business.
Where does Dan Rather see himself then? “I’d love to be doing exactly what I’m doing now,” he says. “And with Connie right alongside me.” Spoken like a true newlywed–except there’s a slight hitch. It’s hard to build a lasting marriage if you’re in danger of losing your home.
Cronkite 1962-1981
Rather replaces Cronkite (1981)
CBS drops below ABC
CBS’s lead over NBC narrows; Connie Chung is appointed coanchor with Rather
Chancellor: 1971-76
Chancellor is joined by Brinkley briefly, then goes solo again: 1979-82
Brokaw and Mudd replace Chancellor: One year later; in 1982, Brokaw takes over.
Smith and reasoner: 1970-75
Walters replaces Smith. The duo lasts two years.
Ratings rise with the introduction of a threesome–Reynolds, Robinson and Jennings: 1978-83
Jennings becomes solo anchor: 1983
