CBS SHAKEUP TO RESCUE KATIE
RICK Kaplan, a giant in TV journalism (he's 6-foot-7), is being brought in by CBS News President Sean McManus to rescue Katie Couric's languishing ratings from third place.
In his long career, Kaplan, 59 - a close friend of Bill Clinton - ran MSNBC until his ouster last summer. He has also run CNN and had a big role at ABC News. He will replace Rome Hartman as executive producer of "The CBS Evening News," insiders told Page Six.
"There was agreement that changes had to be made. Rome and Sean remain close colleagues, and Rome has a bright future with CBS News, but this was definitely a Sean McManus decision," one source said. "This was a competitive move, an aggressive move by Sean."
During the crucial February sweeps, CBS drew a nightly average of 7.6 million viewers to its evening newscast, trailing ABC's Charlie Gibson with 9.69 million, and NBC's Brian Williams with 9.65 million. Williams, who had been No. 1, was so upset to lose his lead that NBC removed his executive producer, John Reiss, last week.
Couric's rating are actually lower now by 120,000 viewers than her predecessor Bob Schieffer's were a year ago.
"Katie Couric makes $15 million a year, and she's a proven star. You know they weren't going to fire her," an insider said.
But CBS veterans should brace themselves for Kaplan's arrival - "He's a bull in a china shop. He's going to bend a lot of people the wrong way," our source said.
Since Couric debuted last fall, TV critics have been underwhelmed by the slower pace of her show, and it has been dogged by the perception it has less hard news than its competitors.
"She brought a lot of people with her. They gave Katie a lot of leeway," said one network-watcher. "Under Kaplan, there will be less influence from her people and a more traditional news show."
This source also predicted, "Keep your eye on the friction between Kaplan and Paul Friedman, the No. 2 man in the news division."
Couric, in a public interview at the 92nd Street Y on Tuesday, said, "I've never really obsessed over ratings . . . I want to turn out a quality newscast."
Spokesmen for CBS and Couric had no comment.
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Producer for Katie Couric Out at CBS News
Rome Hartman, executive producer of “CBS Evening News,” with Katie Couric last August, a month before her debut as the program’s anchor. By BILL CARTER
The shake-ups at the evening newscasts continued last night.
In the latest disruption, CBS News replaced Rome Hartman, the executive producer of the “Evening News with Katie Couric,” with the long-time TV news executive and producer Rick Kaplan, said several people who were informed of the move.
The decision follows a run of disappointing ratings for the CBS newscast, which had introduced Ms. Couric as its anchor with great fanfare in September. Though the program initially scored impressive ratings, and had increased ratings among some audience groups like younger women, it had sunk back to its long-established spot of last place among the three network newscasts in terms of total viewers.
In recent weeks, the newscast had fallen short of the audience totals achieved this time last year by Bob Schieffer, the anchor that Ms. Couric replaced. CBS executives had made it clear that they expected the program to be more competitive.
CBS News executives, contacted last night, declined to comment. But two of the people who were informed of the decision said that Mr. Hartman was told after last night’s newscast. Several staff members were also told that Mr. Kaplan would become the executive producer.
It was not clear last night when Mr. Kaplan would take over. But according to two people who know both Mr. Kaplan and Ms. Couric, they had established a good working relationship when Mr. Kaplan worked at the MSNBC news channel and Ms. Couric was at NBC News.
Mr. Hartman, a respected veteran at CBS News, had joined the program about a year before Ms. Couric arrived, and had introduced several stylistic changes in its format. Some, like a nightly editorial by commentators outside CBS News, were not well received by many critics and some members of the staff. The most widely heard complaint has been that the newscast was sacrificing hard news reporting for more features and interviews.
The change comes at an increasingly tumultuous time for the network newscasts. In the last week NBC removed John Reiss, the executive producer of “NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams,” after ABC’s evening newscast surpassed it in the monthly ratings. That was the first time that ABC had won a month in 11 months.
Rick Kaplan left as president of MSNBC in June.
In turning to Mr. Kaplan, CBS is adding one of the most experienced producers in television news. He has made numerous stops in his long career, mainly at ABC News, where he previously served as the executive producer of that network’s newscast, as well as at “Nightline,” where Mr. Kaplan won several awards, and at “Primetime Live” the newsmagazine he helped create.
Mr. Kaplan, who is 59, left ABC in 1997 and moved on to CNN where he became the president of that cable news channel’s United States operation before he was ousted in 2000 after ratings declined at that network. Subsequently he was named the president of a rival cable news network, MSNBC, in 2004. He helped create that network’s top show, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” but he again fell victim to disappointing ratings and left in 2006.
Mr. Hartman, who is 50, was an award-winning producer for “60 Minutes” before he joined the evening news in late 2005. He is expected to be asked to stay on CBS News in another capacity.
