''The Early Show'' is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
morning television show that aired on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. (live in the
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
, and on
tape delay in all other
time zone
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...
s), although a number of affiliates either pre-empted or tape-delayed the Saturday edition. The program originally broadcast from the
General Motors Building
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
''The Early Show'', like many of its predecessors, traditionally placed third in the ratings, behind
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
''. Much like ''Today'' and its fellow NBC program ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'', the ''Early Show'' title was analogous to that of CBS's late-night talk show, ''
The Late Show The Late Show may refer to:
Books
* ''The Late Show'' (book), a 2017 book by Michael Connelly
Film
* ''The Late Show'' (film), a 1977 film
* ''Late Show'', a 1999 German film by director Helmut Dietl
Music
* ''The Late Show'' (Eddie "Loc ...
''. Unlike CBS' other attempts at a morning news program (which emphasize hard news), ''The Early Show'' followed the format of its two other competitors, which have long used a lighter soft news, lifestyle and infotainment approach.
On November 15, 2011, CBS announced the cancellation of ''The Early Show'', and replacement by a new morning program that
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
chairman
Jeff Fager
Jeffrey B. Fager (born December 10, 1954) is an American television producer who is the former chairman of CBS News and former executive producer of '' 60 Minutes''.
Biography
Fager was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts, to an Episcopalian family ...
and president David Rhodes stated would "redefine the morning television landscape." ''The Early Show'' ended its twelve-year run on January 7, 2012, replaced three days later on January 9 by the second version of ''
CBS This Morning
''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...
''.
Before ''The Early Show''
The 1950s
CBS' first attempt at a morning program debuted on March 15, 1954, with ''The Morning Show'', originally hosted by
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
and very similar in format to ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' (which also ran for two hours from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time until it was reduced to one hour to accommodate the premiere of ''
Captain Kangaroo
''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...
'' in 1955). Additional hosts over the years included
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar repo ...
,
John Henry Faulk
John Henry Faulk (August 21, 1913 – April 9, 1990) was an American storyteller and radio show host. His successful lawsuit against the entertainment industry helped to bring an end to the Hollywood blacklist.
Early life
John Henry Faulk w ...
and
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage.
Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...
. Paar, the most successful of them in drawing an audience, made significant changes in the tone of the program during his tenure as host, casting it into a talk program with some
infotainment
Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of infor ...
elements but featuring an emphasis on humor and conversation, reminiscent of the kind of morning radio show he had done prior to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In 1956, Paar was moved from ''The Morning Show'' to his own late-morning talk program on the network, which aired after ''Captain Kangaroo''. (Paar left CBS to take over
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'' in 1957.)
Next came ''Good Morning! with
Will Rogers Jr.'', which lasted for 14 months before being replaced in April 1957 by a different version of ''The Morning Show'', a variety program hosted by
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer
Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. He was the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand as well as the spokesman for its TV commercials.
He became ...
, which ended that December after nine months. The 45-minute program aired at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time; it was followed by a 15-minute news program, the ''CBS Morning News'', anchored by
Richard C. Hottelet
Richard Curt Hottelet (September 22, 1917 – December 17, 2014) was an American broadcast journalist for the latter half of the twentieth century.
Hottelet was the last surviving member of the Murrow Boys, a World War II-era team of war correspo ...
, and later
Stuart Novins
Stuart Novins (March 30, 1914 – December 7, 1989) was an American television journalist. He was a CBS News correspondent for 35 years.
Novins covered Fidel Castro's ascent to power in Cuba and later reported on the Bay of Pigs invasion. From 1 ...
, which led into ''Captain Kangaroo'' at 8:00 a.m.
The 1960s
CBS did not make any serious attempt to program against ''Today'' for eight years. ''The CBS Morning News'' debuted on September 2, 1963; the program was similar in style to its ''
CBS Evening News
The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature s ...
'' counterpart in that it was also a hard news-focused program, featuring various hosts and correspondents from CBS News over the years. It debuted as a half-hour broadcast anchored by
Mike Wallace
Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
, who joined the network that year, and aired Monday through Friday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Coincidentally, it replaced the daytime magazine program ''
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...
'', which was hosted by Wallace's future ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'' colleague
Harry Reasoner
Harry Truman Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist for CBS and ABC News, known for his adroit use of language as a television commentator, and as a founder of the long-running ''60 Minutes'' program.
Over the ...
.
In August 1965, CBS decided it could get better ratings by airing
rerun
A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated.
Variations
In the United Kingdom, the word ...
s of ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'' in the 10:00 a.m. slot. The network moved the ''Morning News'' to 7:05 a.m. (although most affiliates carried it at 7:30 a.m. on tape delay). Wallace only lasted one more year after the move. Tired of the early wake-up time, he left the program to cover
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's 1968 comeback presidential campaign for CBS News. Wallace suggested
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
newsman
Joseph Benti
Joseph Benti is an American former television news correspondent for CBS News who also served as News presenter, anchor of The Early Show, the CBS Morning News from 1966 until 1970. Based in Los Angeles for most of his career, Benti later worked as ...
as his replacement.
The 1970s
It was during Joseph Benti's run (through August 28, 1970) that the program became the first regularly scheduled one-hour newscast on network television on March 31, 1969. Until 1981, it preceded ''Captain Kangaroo'' on CBS's morning schedule from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The new hour-long format featured
John Hart reading the news headlines from
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and CBS News
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
correspondent
Hughes Rudd
Hughes Day Rudd (September 14, 1921 in Waco, Texas – October 13, 1992 in Toulouse, France) was a television journalist and CBS News and ABC News correspondent. Rudd was known for his folksy style, gravelly voice, and unimposing sense of ...
as an occasional contributor. After Hart replaced Benti as the main anchor in New York City, the Washington anchor desk was assumed by
Bernard Kalb
Bernard Kalb (born February 4, 1922) is an American journalist, moderator, media critic, lecturer, and author.
Life and career
Born in New York City, he covered international affairs for more than three decades at CBS News, NBC News and '' The ...
until 1972, and by
Nelson Benton
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', ''60 Minutes'', and '' 48 Ho ...
for a year afterwards.
On August 6, 1973, Hart was replaced (he eventually went to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
). In an effort to emulate ''Today'', which had
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters (born September 25, 1929) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including ...
as a co-anchor, Rudd was teamed up with former ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reporter
Sally Quinn
Sally Sterling Quinn (born July 1, 1941) is an American author and journalist, who writes about religion for a blog at ''The Washington Post''.
Early life
Sally Quinn was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Lt. General William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" ...
. Unfortunately for CBS, within days, the hugely publicized pairing of what was dubbed by the press as "the beauty and the grouch" (respectively referring to Quinn and Rudd) turned out to be a disaster. Quinn was gone after six months, leaving after the February 1, 1974 telecast. A more experienced correspondent,
Bruce Morton Bruce Morton may refer to:
* Bruce Morton (journalist) (1930–2014), American journalist and television news correspondent
* Bruce Morton (mathematician) (1926–2012), Australian/New Zealand applied mathematician
{{hndis, Morton, Bruce ...
, later took over the Washington desk, remaining there until 1977. During that period, the newscast evolved into a straightforward delivery of the morning news, much like Cronkite's evening newscast. Despite the anchor turnover through the years, the broadcast set a consistent tone which emphasized news and ideas over celebrity gossip or self-help tips. The latest news bureau of CBS News Washington correspondent
Barry Serafin
Barry Serafin (born June 22, 1941) is an American television journalist and former weekend anchor of ABC World News. An Oregon native, born in Coquille, and raised in Roseburg, Serafin graduated from Washington State University in 1964, and be ...
. The anchor desk was subsequently shared by the team of
Lesley Stahl
Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's ''60 Minutes''. She is known for her ne ...
and
Richard Threlkeld
Richard Threlkeld (November 30, 1937 – January 13, 2012) was an American television news correspondent who spent 25 years with CBS News.
Early life
Threlkeld was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and grew up in Barrington, Illinois. He earned ...
, while Morton and Rudd returned to provide feature reports and commentary.
The 1980s
The ''Morning'' Era
On Sunday, January 28, 1979, CBS revamped the program, premiering ''Morning'', which was titled in accordance to the day of the week (''Monday Morning'', ''Tuesday Morning'', etc.). The weekday ''Morning'' series competed with ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'' and ''Today''.
Charles Kuralt
Charles Bishop Kuralt (September 10, 1934 – July 4, 1997) was an American television, newspaper and radio journalist and author. He is most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on '' The CBS Evenin ...
hosted Sundays, while
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...
hosted the rest of the week; Kuralt took over the daily broadcasts as well starting on October 27, 1980. The program featured long-form pieces from CBS News bureaus, and many viewed it as a highbrow, classy newscast in the best CBS tradition. Despite critical acclaim, the program remained dead last in the
ratings, and CBS was under more pressure from affiliates to present a more viable morning competitor. So on September 28, 1981, ''Morning'' dropped the days of the week from its title (except for ''
CBS News Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...
''), was extended to 90 minutes and added
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', '' Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and '' Primetime'' newsmag ...
as co-host; in the process, ''Captain Kangaroo'' was reduced to a half-hour daily and pushed to an earlier time period (7:00 a.m.).
''The CBS Morning News''
On January 18, 1982, again at the expense of ''Captain Kangaroo'', ''Morning'' was expanded to the same two-hour format that ''Today'' and ''GMA'' were utilizing. Along the way it reassumed the title of ''The CBS Morning News'' (not to be confused with CBS's earlier morning newscast, the ''
CBS Early Morning News'', later retitled as the ''CBS Morning News''). Kuralt was replaced on the weekday broadcasts on March 15, 1982. By this time management decided that morning news programming should be more competitive and hired
Bill Kurtis
Bill Kurtis (born William Horton Kuretich; September 21, 1940), is an American television journalist, television producer, narrator, and news anchor.
Kurtis was studying to become a lawyer in the 1960s, when he was asked to fill in on a tempora ...
, anchor of the highly rated evening newscasts at
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, as Sawyer's co-host. The Sunday edition of ''Morning'', with Kuralt as host, was kept; it remains on the air under its original title, ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (now hosted by
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age ...
).
By the fall of 1982, ''Captain Kangaroo'' had disappeared from the daily schedule, and the new team of Kurtis and Sawyer were anchoring three hours of news in the morning, as they were also seen on the ''
CBS Early Morning News'' an hour earlier.
Their teamwork helped boost the program's ratings, albeit briefly; George Merlis, a former ''Good Morning America'' producer hired to revamp the broadcast, is also credited by most network insiders with nearly doubling viewership numbers for ''The CBS Morning News'' by March 1983. The numbers continued to climb during the summer; during one week in August 1983, it passed ''Today'' for the second place spot behind ''GMA'', and was in closing distance behind the latter program for the #1 spot before it dropped back to third place again. After Merlis was relieved from his duties for his trouble, Sawyer, tired of the morning grind, left in the fall of 1984 to become the first female correspondent on ''60 Minutes''.
CBS News correspondents
Jane Wallace and
Meredith Vieira
Meredith Louise Vieira (born December 30, 1953) is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show '' The View'' (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated ...
briefly alternated as interim co-host in an on-air try-out that lasted several months, but both were passed over for the permanent spot. Instead, CBS settled for former
Miss America
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...
and ''
The NFL Today
''The NFL Today'' is an American football television program on CBS that serves as the pre-game show for the network's National Football League (NFL) game telecasts under the ''NFL on CBS'' brand. The program features commentary on the latest new ...
'' co-host
Phyllis George
Phyllis Ann George (June 25, 1949 – May 14, 2020) was an American businesswoman, actress, and sportscaster. In 1975, George was hired as a reporter and co-host of the CBS Sports pre-show ''The NFL Today'', becoming one of the first women ...
, who was given a three-year contract following a mere two-week trial run. There was little chemistry between George and Kurtis onscreen and the show fared poorly.
The lowest point of her very brief tenure came on May 14, 1985, during George's interview with false rape accuser
Cathleen Mae Webb
Cathleen Mae Webb (also known as Cathleen Crowell Webb) was an Illinois woman, who, in 1985, recanted her testimony from an earlier rape case to free an innocent man. The convicted man, Gary Dotson, was released and later exonerated in the firs ...
and the man whom she had falsely accused,
Gary Dotson
Gary E. DotsonLitke, JamesGary Dotson trying to adjust to life outside prison May 9, 1986 Associated Press report. ''The Ledger of Lakeland'', Florida. Accessed October 23, 2009. (born August 3, 1957) is an American man who was the first person t ...
. In an effort to get the two to make amends to each other, George made a simple suggestion: "How about a hug?" Both Webb and Dotson graciously refused. That infamous interview alienated audiences and was blasted by critics,
helping to put an unpleasant close to George's television career at this initial mark. A very unhappy Bill Kurtis subsequently departed from the program and resigned from CBS News in July, returning to Chicago and his former anchor spot at WBBM-TV. Once again, Bob Schieffer served as a brief replacement. Phyllis George eventually left CBS for good that fall.
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to ...
, who had joined CBS as a West Coast feature reporter in 1983, and
Forrest Sawyer
Forrest Sawyer (born April 19, 1949) is an American broadcast journalist. Sawyer worked 11 years with ABC News, where he frequently anchored ''ABC World News Tonight'' and ''Nightline'' and reported for all ABC News broadcasts. He anchored the new ...
, new to the network, were named co-anchors of ''The CBS Morning News'' on August 30, 1985. After a respectable year albeit still placing third in the ratings, Shriver and Sawyer made their last appearance on the program on August 1, 1986, after CBS announced that the early morning timeslot would leave control of the news division, to be replaced by a new show produced by a newly created unit in the CBS Broadcast Group. Prodded by network affiliates, CBS decided that an entertainment format might work better against ''Good Morning America'' and ''Today'', and planning began for a new show that would come to be called ''The Morning Program''.
Bruce Morton Bruce Morton may refer to:
* Bruce Morton (journalist) (1930–2014), American journalist and television news correspondent
* Bruce Morton (mathematician) (1926–2012), Australian/New Zealand applied mathematician
{{hndis, Morton, Bruce ...
and
Faith Daniels
Faith Daniels (born March 9, 1957) is an American television news anchor, reporter, and talk show host.
Early life
Daniels was born to an unwed mother and lived eight months in a Catholic orphanage before being adopted by Steven A. Skowronski, a ...
became the first in a string of substitutes to host ''Morning News'' until it left the air.
In an August 1986 ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' article, columnist
Jonathan Alter
Jonathan H. Alter (born October 6, 1957) is a liberal American journalist, best-selling author, Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and television producer who was a columnist and senior editor for ''Newsweek'' magazine from 1983 until 2011. Alt ...
wrote regarding the move, "''The CBS Morning News'' was simply shot dead. Underappreciated co-anchors Forrest Sawyer and Maria Shriver left the air with a classy farewell after the network's announcement that the perennially lagging show would be canceled by the end of the year."
Tom Shales
Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...
reported in ''The Washington Post'', "throughout the industry there is shock and derision for the way CBS has handled
he''Morning News,'' so long its problem child. Competitors are saying the ''Morning News'' fiasco is a symptom of a new disarray in CBS News, and some question whether current CBS News executives will all be able to ride out the storm."
''The Morning Program''
![Mariette Hartley, Roland Smith, co-hosts of CBS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Mariette_Hartley%2C_Roland_Smith%2C_co-hosts_of_CBS_%22Morning_Program%22.jpg)
On January 12, 1987, ''The Morning Program'' made its debut hosted by actress
Mariette Hartley
Mary Loretta Hartley (born June 21, 1940) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for work with Bill Bixby on '' The Incredible Hulk'' (1978) and ''Goodnight, Beantown'' (1983–1984), an original ''Star Trek'' episode (1 ...
and
Rolland Smith
Rolland G. Smith (born December 6, 1941) is an American poet, retired television news reporter and anchor who was based in New York for most of his long career.
Broadcasting career
Smith's earliest broadcasting job was for Metromedia Televisi ...
, former longtime anchor at
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WL ...
in New York City. Radio personality
Mark McEwen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
handled the weather, while comedian
Bob Saget
Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fuller ...
did comedy bits. Produced by the network's entertainment division, the show ran for 90 minutes (7:30 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific, 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. Central and Mountain) behind a briefly expanded 90-minute ''CBS Early Morning News'' broadcast (6:00 to 7:30 a.m. local; although most larger-market affiliates pre-empted all or part of the 6:00 a.m. hour to carry a locally produced morning newscast), which had dropped "Early" from its title.
However, ''The Morning Program'', with its awkward mix of news, entertainment and comedy, became the joke of the industry, receiving scathing reviews.
At one point, it generated a mere 10 percent share, the lowest ratings that CBS had seen in the morning slot in five years. The show was also dragging down ratings for the syndicated programming that most affiliates aired in the 9:00 Eastern and Pacific/8:00 Central and Mountain slot, and many of them were threatening to preempt the show unless changes were made (for instance, CBS affiliate
KKTV
KKTV (channel 11) is a television station in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, affiliated with CBS. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on East Colorado Avenue in downtown Colorado Springs and a transmitter ...
in
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
successfully dropped the show, and replaced the morning block with syndicated cartoon programming). Finally, CBS canceled the show and returned the time slot to the news division after a 10½-month run. Hartley and Smith were dumped (the former departed the program two weeks early and was replaced by
Sandy Hill, who had formerly co-hosted ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
''), while Saget left to star on the ABC sitcom ''
Full House
''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...
''. A longtime producer summed up this version of the program upon its demise by saying, "...everyone thought we had the lowest ratings you could have in the morning. ''The Morning Program'' proved us wrong".
''CBS This Morning''
On November 30, 1987, ''The Morning Program'' was replaced by the original ''CBS This Morning''. It lasted for twelve years, staying in third place for its entire run. However, it was far more competitive than its predecessors had ever been (with the aforementioned KKTV, after previously dropping ''The Morning Program'', beginning to air ''CBS This Morning'' in early 1989). It ended on October 29, 1999 and was replaced by ''The Early Show''. In 2012, the second iteration of ''CBS This Morning'' replaced ''The Early Show''. Plans were announced for the show to be renamed ''CBS Mornings'' to emulate the Sunday edition. This latest version of the program began in September 2021.
History
Gumbel, Clayson, McEwen and Chen (November 1, 1999–2002)
''The Early Show'' began on November 1, 1999 (around the time when
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
, a former CBS division, had purchased the network) when CBS executives successfully lured former ''Today'' host
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's ''Today''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted H ...
to head up the broadcast, teamed with
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
correspondent
Jane Clayson
Jane Clayson Johnson (born April 25, 1967) is an American journalist and author.
Early life and career
Clayson was born in Sacramento, California, and spent most of her childhood there. She played with the Sacramento Youth Symphony and is an a ...
. Unlike with ''This Morning'', CBS asked its affiliates to carry the two-hour program in its entirety.
Julie Chen
Julie may refer to:
* Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name
Film and television
* ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day
* ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...
read the news, while
Mark McEwen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
of ''
Live by Request
''Live by Request'' is a television show on the A&E Network from 1996 to 2004. On it, notable artists hold concerts where the set list would be determined by viewer phone calls. The show was created based on an idea by Tony Bennett. Bennett star ...
'', the sole holdover from ''CBS This Morning'', did the weather. Initial ratings were not encouraging, and were actually lower than those of ''CBS This Morning''. Gumbel left on May 17, 2002, and shortly thereafter Clayson and McEwen were replaced.
Clayson may be best known for her awkward confrontation with ''Early Show'' food and style contributor
Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pub ...
during this period; Stewart was involved in the
ImClone stock trading case A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Attorney probe of trading in the shares of ImClone Systems resulted in a widely publicized criminal case, which resulted in prison terms for businesswoman and television personality Martha Stewart, ...
, but retained her ''Early Show'' contributor duties during the initial stages of the controversy. CBS required Stewart to address the issue as a condition of keeping those contributor duties. Stewart, upon consulting her legal team, agreed to take questions on-air, but not in a separate interview. As a result, during one of Stewart's usual live cooking segments (in June 2002), Clayson, who normally assisted Stewart with preparing the meal, asked her to comment on her involvement with ImClone and her selling of company stock just one day before an application for a new cancer drug developed by the pharmaceutical company was rejected by the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
; a visibly uncomfortable Stewart, obsessively chopping vegetables for a
salad
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...
, evaded Clayson's questions, citing her inability to comment on an ongoing investigation (Stewart was indicted in 2003, tried and convicted in 2004, and served five months in federal prison for her involvement in the case). Stewart stopped contributing to the program after the appearance, which was immortalized in an
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
TV-movie of Stewart's life that aired a few months later (with
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...
playing the role of Stewart).
Smith, Storm, Chen, Syler and Price (October 2002–December 2006)
On October 28, 2002, ''The Early Show'' overhauled its hosting staff. The new team consisted of Chen,
Harry Smith (former host of ''
Biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
'' and ''CBS This Morning''),
Hannah Storm (former commentator for
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
),
Rene Syler
René Syler (born February 17, 1963), is an American broadcast television journalist and author. Syler co-hosted CBS News' ''The Early Show'' from October 2002, when it debuted in its four-anchor format, until she left the program in December 2 ...
(who joined the program after serving as a news anchor at CBS'
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
KTVT
KTVT (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, broadcasting CBS programming to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Independent statio ...
in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
), and
weatherman Dave Price
David M. Price (born October 18, 1966) is an American journalist and weather forecaster who is currently working for WNBC-TV in New York as a weekday afternoon weatherman.
Price is perhaps best known for his time on CBS television's ''The Earl ...
(joining the program after a run as a morning meteorologist at New York City Fox O&O
WNYW
WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship W ...
), who also worked at WCBS-TV for some time after joining ''The Early Show''. To keep affiliates happy, CBS went back to the local/national hybrid format originated on ''CBS This Morning'' in 1997. The program also had a number of "correspondents" who conducted short segments on specific issues, including
Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pub ...
(until not long after the aforementioned segment with Jane Clayson),
Martha Quinn
Martha Conrad Quinn (born May 11, 1959) is an American actress and Radio personality, radio and television personality, best known as one of the original video jockeys on MTV (along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter (VJ), Alan Hunter ...
,
Bobby Flay
Robert William Flay (born December 10, 1964), is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's ...
and
Bob Vila, among others. In 2004, Susan Koeppen became the program's consumer correspondent.
On October 30, 2006, ''The Early Show'' received a revamp, featuring new graphics (with a new blue and orange color scheme instead of blue and yellow) and music similar to that used on the ''CBS Evening News'' (which were also rolled out on ''
Up to the Minute
''CBS Overnight News'' is an American overnight news broadcasting that is broadcast on CBS during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday. The program maintains a infotainment format, incorporating national, international and busines ...
'' and the ''CBS Morning News'' in early October). On December 4, 2006, it was announced that Rene Syler would leave the show by the end of the month; her last show was December 22.
Smith, Storm, Chen, Mitchell, and Price (December 2006–December 2007)
On December 7, 2006, CBS News named
Russ Mitchell
Russell Edward Mitchell (born March 25, 1960) is an American journalist best known for his career at CBS where he was anchor of ''The Early Show'' on Saturday, news anchor for ''The Early Show'' during the week, and weekend anchor of the ''CB ...
(who had been co-anchor of the program's Saturday edition since its inception as ''CBS News Saturday Morning'' in 1997) as the news anchor for the program starting January 2, 2007. On November 28, 2007, it was announced that Hannah Storm was leaving as the program's co-anchor; her last day was December 7, 2007.
Smith, Rodriguez, Chen, Mitchell and Price (January 2008–January 2010)
On December 5, 2007, CBS announced that
Maggie Rodriguez
Margarita Dania Rodriguez (born December 12, 1969) is a former co-anchor of the CBS television broadcast, ''The Early Show'', from December 2007 to December 2010. Rodriguez was also a substitute anchor for Katie Couric on ''The CBS Evening News'' ...
(who had joined the program earlier that year as anchor of its Saturday edition) would succeed Storm as co-anchor. During that month, the ''CBS Evening News'' shared its studio/set with ''The Early Show''. ''The Early Show'' itself debuted a new set on January 7, 2008, when it also abandoned the aforementioned local/national hybrid format, opting to require its stations carry the entire two-hour broadcast. Ratings for ''The Early Show'' dropped with the institution of these changes. However, the gap between the program and second-place ''Good Morning America'' remained virtually consistent as all three morning shows saw similar ratings erosion.
On April 16, ''The Early Show'' scored a coup with the broadcast of a live musical performance by
Susan Boyle. ''The Early Show'' enjoyed a relatively successful May sweeps, racking up a 5% increase in total viewership year-to-year while remaining flat in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic, at a time when both ''Today'' and ''Good Morning America'' were shedding viewers to the tune of 3 and 4% respectively.
Howard Kurtz's ''Washington Post'' profile of CBS ''Early Show'' co-host Maggie Rodriguez said her addition to the program accounts for "an uptick in the ratings, lifting spirits at the broadcast". Rodriguez landed some high-profile interviews with the grandparents of Caylee Anthony, Levi Johnston, and disgraced former Roman Catholic priest
Alberto Cutié, who later became an Episcopal minister. Rodriguez stated that "If
were to program a show for my viewing pleasure, I would make it all news ...
t we're programming for all of America. We have to include
Jon
Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Kate Kate name may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
* Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer
* Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...
— regardless of whether I personally care, they're on the cover of every magazine. You can't be so highbrow that you only cover hard news. I'm not a journalistic snob." In addition to her duties on the morning show, Rodriguez regularly filled in for
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
on the ''CBS Evening News''.
On January 13, 2010, CBS announced that news anchor Russ Mitchell would exit ''The Early Show'' at the end of the week, leaving a gap in the program's anchor lineup. He became the national correspondent for CBS and would remain as anchor of the Sunday edition of the ''CBS Evening News''. Around this time, Koeppen left ''The Early Show'' to become a primary news anchor for CBS-owned
KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Jeannette-licensed CW affil ...
in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
; her spot as consumer correspondent was not replaced.
Smith, Rodriguez, Chen, Hill and Price (January–December 2010)
In January 2010,
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
became the program's news update anchor, joining Smith, Rodriguez, Price and now features correspondent Chen.
''The Early Show'' became the last morning network news/talk program to begin broadcasting in
high definition on April 26, 2010. The ''Evening News'' control room was to be used to base the program, as construction was under way for a new control room for ''The Early Show'' at the General Motors Building. New graphics were now overlaid to accommodate added screen space, and were also used throughout other CBS News programs.
Wragge, Hill, Chen, Glor and Castro (January–September 2011)
Smith, Price and Rodriguez were fired from the program in December 2010. Erica Hill and
Chris Wragge
Christian P. Wragge ( ; born June 19, 1970) is an American news anchor. He is the co-anchor for New York's CBS2's ''News This Morning'' and CBS2's ''News at Noon'', alongside Mary Calvi. He was previously on WCBS's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. ...
(who previously anchored the Saturday edition) were appointed as anchors of the weekday ''Early Show'' on January 3, 2011.
Marysol Castro
Marysol Castro is a public address announcer at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. She was also an American broadcast journalist who was employed as a news anchor at WPIX in New York, a weather forecaster for ''The Early Show'' on CBS in 20 ...
was also added as a weather anchor, replacing Dave Price; while Julie Chen remained a part of the staff, presenting additional feature stories, with Jeff Glor taking Hill's spot as news anchor. Chen, the wife of CBS President & CEO
Les Moonves
Leslie Roy Moonves (; born October 6, 1949) is an American media executive who was the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 until his resignation in September 2018 following numerous allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and ...
, was the only one to stay with the program since its inception before leaving the full-time anchor position to become host of ''
The Talk'' in late 2010; however, she remained with ''The Early Show'' as a special contributing anchor.
In March 2011, the program introduced a redesigned set, which included a new anchor desk backdrop, a new reporter area and a blue color scheme. On September 2, 2011, it was announced that Marysol Castro would be leaving her post as weather anchor effective immediately.
Wragge, Hill and Glor (September 2011–January 2012)
After Castro's departure, the hosts had cut directly to local CBS affiliates to provide forecast cut-ins (with a narrated national outlook available to stations that did not provide cut-ins due to the absence of a news department), making CBS the only one of the three major broadcast morning shows without a national forecast segment.
In 2011, the program had begun focusing on hard news in contrast to the other network morning news programs, which show a mix of hard news, lighter news and
infotainment
Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of infor ...
. Coverage consisted of national and international news, including occasional town halls with political leaders and in-depth coverage of major events.
Cancellation and final broadcast
On November 15, 2011, CBS News announced ''The Early Show'' would be cancelled, and replaced by a new hard news and interview-focused program on January 9, 2012. The new program's title was announced on December 1, as ''
CBS This Morning
''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...
''.
Erica Hill was the only holdover from ''The Early Show'' that became part of the new program, joined by
Charlie Rose
Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP.
Rose also co-an ...
and
Gayle King
Gayle King (born December 28, 1954) is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, '' CBS Mornings'', and before that its predecessor ''CBS This Morning''. She is ...
; Hill was replaced by then-CBS News Washington D.C. correspondent
Norah O'Donnell
Norah Morahan O'Donnell (born January 23, 1974) is an American television journalist who is currently anchor of the ''CBS Evening News'' and a correspondent for ''60 Minutes''. She has worked with several mainstream media outlets throughout her ...
in July 2012 (Hill subsequently became a co-anchor of the
weekend edition
''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' ...
of ''Today'').
Chris Wragge returned to WCBS-TV as an anchor; originally co-anchoring on both WCBS' 6:00 p.m. newscast and sister station
WLNY-TV
WLNY-TV (channel 55) is an independent television station licensed to Riverhead, New York, United States, serving the New York City television market. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS flagship WCBS-TV (channel 2). Bot ...
's 9:00 p.m. newscast, before being moved to WCBS' weekday morning and noon newscasts in 2013. Jeff Glor now appears on ''CBS This Morning'' as a special correspondent, and became the Sunday evening ''
CBS Evening News
The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature s ...
'' anchor on January 15, 2012 following Russ Mitchell's departure to become the lead anchor at
WKYC-TV
WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the stati ...
in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
The final edition of ''The Early Show'' aired on January 7, 2012, with that week's final Saturday edition being broadcast from the set of the ''CBS Evening News'' at CBS Broadcast Center, anchored by
Rebecca Jarvis
Rebecca Ann Jarvis (born September 28, 1981) is an American journalist and investment banker. She is the chief business, economics, and technology correspondent for ABC News, the host, creator, and managing editor of ''Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvi ...
, news anchor
Betty Nguyen
Betty Nguyen (born September 1, 1974) is an American news anchor, who is currently at WPIX in New York City. Nguyen has previously worked for NBC News, MSNBC, CBS News, and CNN.
Career
Nguyen began her career as a morning anchor and reporter at ...
and weather anchor
Lonnie Quinn.
On-air staff
Anchors
*
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's ''Today''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Since 1995, he has hosted H ...
– anchor (1999–2002)
*
Jane Clayson
Jane Clayson Johnson (born April 25, 1967) is an American journalist and author.
Early life and career
Clayson was born in Sacramento, California, and spent most of her childhood there. She played with the Sacramento Youth Symphony and is an a ...
– anchor (1999–2002)
*
Mark McEwen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
– anchor (Summer 2002)
*
Tom Bergeron
Thomas Raymond Bergeron (born May 6, 1955) is an American television personality, game show host, comedian and actor, best known for hosting ''Hollywood Squares'' from 1998 to 2004, ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' from 2001 to 2015, and ''Danci ...
– anchor (Summer 2002)
*
Russ Mitchell
Russell Edward Mitchell (born March 25, 1960) is an American journalist best known for his career at CBS where he was anchor of ''The Early Show'' on Saturday, news anchor for ''The Early Show'' during the week, and weekend anchor of the ''CB ...
– anchor (Summer 2002)
*
Gretchen Carlson
Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. Carlson appeared as the host of numerous television programs, most notably on the Saturday edition of ''The Early Show'' on ...
– anchor (Summer 2002)
*
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
– anchor (Summer 2002)
*
Julie Chen
Julie may refer to:
* Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name
Film and television
* ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day
* ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...
– anchor (2002–2010)
*
Harry Smith – anchor (2002–2010)
*
Hannah Storm – anchor (2002–2007)
*
Rene Syler
René Syler (born February 17, 1963), is an American broadcast television journalist and author. Syler co-hosted CBS News' ''The Early Show'' from October 2002, when it debuted in its four-anchor format, until she left the program in December 2 ...
– anchor (2002–2006)
*
Maggie Rodriguez
Margarita Dania Rodriguez (born December 12, 1969) is a former co-anchor of the CBS television broadcast, ''The Early Show'', from December 2007 to December 2010. Rodriguez was also a substitute anchor for Katie Couric on ''The CBS Evening News'' ...
– anchor (2008–2010)
*
Chris Wragge
Christian P. Wragge ( ; born June 19, 1970) is an American news anchor. He is the co-anchor for New York's CBS2's ''News This Morning'' and CBS2's ''News at Noon'', alongside Mary Calvi. He was previously on WCBS's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. ...
– anchor (2011–2012)
*
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
– anchor (2011-2012)
News anchors
*
Julie Chen
Julie may refer to:
* Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name
Film and television
* ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day
* ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...
– news anchor (1999–2007)
*
Russ Mitchell
Russell Edward Mitchell (born March 25, 1960) is an American journalist best known for his career at CBS where he was anchor of ''The Early Show'' on Saturday, news anchor for ''The Early Show'' during the week, and weekend anchor of the ''CB ...
– news anchor (2007–2010)
*
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
– news anchor (2010–2011)
*
Jeff Glor
Jeffrey Todd Glor (born July 12, 1975) is an American journalist, co-host of ''CBS Saturday Morning '' and a CBS News special correspondent. He had previously anchored the ''CBS Evening News'' from 2017 to 2019.
Early life and education
Glor wa ...
– news anchor (2011–2012)
Weather anchors
*
Mark McEwen
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fin ...
– weather anchor (1999–2002)
*
Dave Price
David M. Price (born October 18, 1966) is an American journalist and weather forecaster who is currently working for WNBC-TV in New York as a weekday afternoon weatherman.
Price is perhaps best known for his time on CBS television's ''The Earl ...
– weather anchor (2002–2010)
*
Marysol Castro
Marysol Castro is a public address announcer at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. She was also an American broadcast journalist who was employed as a news anchor at WPIX in New York, a weather forecaster for ''The Early Show'' on CBS in 20 ...
– weather anchor (2011)
Saturday edition
Alongside the relaunch of the weekday program as ''The Early Show'', ''CBS News Saturday Morning'', which had debuted in 1997, was also relocated to the General Motors Building and renamed ''The Saturday Early Show''. In 2008, the title of the Saturday program was shortened to ''The Early Show'', fully in line with the weekday program. Anchors of the Saturday edition during this era included
Russ Mitchell
Russell Edward Mitchell (born March 25, 1960) is an American journalist best known for his career at CBS where he was anchor of ''The Early Show'' on Saturday, news anchor for ''The Early Show'' during the week, and weekend anchor of the ''CB ...
(1999-2007 and 2011),
Thalia Assuras
__NOTOC__
Thalia Assuras is a Canadian television journalist and media consultant.
Early years
Assuras was born in London, Ontario to parents who immigrated from Tripoli, Greece, after World War II. She attended London Central Secondary School, ...
(1999–2002),
Gretchen Carlson
Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (born June 21, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. Carlson appeared as the host of numerous television programs, most notably on the Saturday edition of ''The Early Show'' on ...
(2002–2005),
Tracy Smith (2005–2007),
Chris Wragge
Christian P. Wragge ( ; born June 19, 1970) is an American news anchor. He is the co-anchor for New York's CBS2's ''News This Morning'' and CBS2's ''News at Noon'', alongside Mary Calvi. He was previously on WCBS's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. ...
and
Erica Hill
Erica Ruth Hill-Yount is an American journalist who works for CNN. She serves as a primary substitute anchor and a correspondent. She co-anchored ''Weekend Today'' from 2012 to 2016, following work at CBS since 2008.
Personal life
Hill was b ...
(both 2008-10), and
Rebecca Jarvis
Rebecca Ann Jarvis (born September 28, 1981) is an American journalist and investment banker. She is the chief business, economics, and technology correspondent for ABC News, the host, creator, and managing editor of ''Real Biz with Rebecca Jarvi ...
(2010 and 2011–12), alongside weather anchors
Ira Joe Fisher
Ira Joe Fisher (born October 31, 1947, Salamanca, New York) is an American broadcaster, poet, and educator.. The winner of two regional Emmys, he currently presents Speaking Fearlessly seminars and teaches at UConn and Mercy College. He was the ...
(1999-2006) and
Lonnie Quinn (2006–12).
Unlike its competitors ''Today'' and ''Good Morning America'', ''The Early Show'' did not have a Sunday edition, due to the continued success of ''
CBS News Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...
'', which maintained a distinct newsmagazine format with long-form feature reports and in-depth interview segments.
Ratings
CBS has been the perennial third-place finisher in the morning race since 1976, placing second only a few times in the past 30 years. CBS surpassed ABC's ''Good Morning America'' for second place during the weeks of January 17, 1977 and December 28, 1998, running behind first-place ''Today'' which was in first place both times. However, ''The CBS Morning News'' outrated ''Today'', then often in second place (with ''Good Morning America'' in first), for a few weeks in 1984 while ''Today'' co-host
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age ...
was on maternity leave.
In September 2007, CBS sought to get ''The Early Show'' out of the ratings basement by hiring Shelley Ross, who previously served as
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
of ''Good Morning America'' from 1999 to 2004. Significant changes were made to the program as Ross asserted her influence; on January 7, 2008, the network began requiring affiliates to air the program in its entirety, ending the local-national hybrid format and restricting the local news inserts to :25 and :55 minutes past the hour. CBS reportedly viewed the removal of those breaks as vital to creating a national profile for the program.
However, some CBS affiliates continued to air the entire program on a sister station in order to continue to airing a locally produced morning newscast during ''The Early Show''s timeslot;
WWL-TV
WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). Both stations share studios on Rampart St ...
in
never aired ''The Early Show'', any of its previous versions or its successor ''CBS This Morning'', opting to instead air the final two hours of its ''Eyewitness Morning News'' broadcast from 5:00 to 9:00 a.m. instead; however after former owner
Belo acquired that station in 2007, ''The Early Show'' began airing in New Orleans on
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate
WUPL
WUPL (channel 54) is a television station licensed to Slidell, Louisiana, United States, serving the New Orleans area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside CBS affiliate WWL-TV (channel 4). Both stations share stu ...
.
WKRC-TV
WKRC-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR-TV (channel 64) under a loca ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
began airing the full two-hour ''Early Show'' broadcast, while moving the third hour of its local morning newscast to the station's
CW-affiliated subchannel.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
's
KUTV
KUTV (channel 2) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside independent station KJZZ-TV (channel 14) and St. George–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate K ...
(which was formerly owned by the network until 2007) continued to preempt the program's first hour despite the network's insistence.
KOTV in
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
and
WFMY
WFMY-TV (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Piedmont Triad region. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Phillips Avenue in Greensboro, a ...
in
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
began airing the program in its entirety on a one-hour delay at 8:00 a.m. to accommodate a 7:00 a.m. hour of their local newscasts (in the case of KOTV, it chose to move the 8:00 a.m. hour of its morning newscast to its CW-affiliated sister station
KQCW to comply with the new requirements).
Industry insiders considered Shelley Ross' influence to be a serious threat to raising the profile of the program to turn it into a true competitor to NBC's ''Today'' and ABC's ''Good Morning America''. However, Ross was fired as executive producer after only six months, following frequent feuds with staff (particularly Smith and Chen), who reportedly informed management that either Ross would have to go or they would resign on their own.
Despite the change in staff in 2011, the program remained mired in third place, with a total average viewership of around 2 to 2.5 million viewers per week. The program also faced pressure from network management to take advantage of the redefining of CBS News as more of a hard news organization after the end of Katie Couric's tenure at the ''CBS Evening News'', asking the program's staff to take advantage of stories presented on ''60 Minutes'' and the ''CBS Evening News'' and expand upon them on the morning program rather than following the lead of ''Today'' and ''GMA'' to the letter.
Theme music
The debut theme for ''The Early Show'' was a typical opener for an American morning news program. Created by Chris Bowman, the song was called "Sunrise".Bowman created two versions of the song that were used until 2002 when Bryant Gumbel left the show. When the show reformatted with new hosts and set, an instrumental version of the same-titled track from
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
's
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
hit album, "
Brand New Day" until late October 2006, when it was replaced by a variant of the
James Horner
James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American composer. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements, and for his frequent use of motifs associated with Celtic music.
Horner's first film score was i ...
theme originally composed that year for the ''
CBS Evening News
The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature s ...
''. On January 7, 2008, as part of CBS's attempt to relaunch the show with new hosts and set, an updated version of Horner's composition was introduced; the theme was modified a number of times after the format change. On June 27, 2011, ''The Early Show'' began using a slower-tempoed version of the ''CBS Evening News'' theme by Trivers-Myers Music (the original version of which was first used on the evening news program from 1987 to 1991, before being revived in 2011 upon
Scott Pelley
Scott Cameron Pelley (born July 28, 1957) is an American journalist and author who has been a correspondent and anchor for CBS News for more than 31 years. Pelley is the author of the 2019 book, ''Truth Worth Telling'', and a correspondent for th ...
taking over as anchor of the broadcast).
International broadcasts
In Australia, ''The Early Show'' aired on
Network 10
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
on weekday mornings from 4.00 a.m. under the title "The CBS Early Show", with the Friday edition being held over to the following Monday. A national weather map of Australia was inserted during local affiliate weather cutaways; however, no local news segments were inserted into the broadcast. Unlike the
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
's airing of NBC's ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
'' and the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
's airing of ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'', ''The Early Show'' was not condensed or edited for broadcast by Ten. It was, however, pre-empted in most regional areas in favor of paid and religious programming.
Awards
In
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, ''The Early Show'' was nominated for a
GLAAD Media Award
The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...
for "Outstanding TV Journalism Segment" for the segment "Reverend's Revelation: Minister Speaks Out About Being Transgender".
See also
*
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
*''
CBS Morning News
The ''CBS Morning News'' is an American early-morning news broadcast presented weekdays on the CBS television network. The program features late-breaking news stories, national weather forecasts and sports highlights. Since 2013, it has been anc ...
''
*''
CBS This Morning
''CBS This Morning'' (''CTM'') is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987, to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012, to September 6, 2021. The program was aired from Monday through Saturday. ...
''
*''
CBS Mornings
''CBS Mornings'' is an American morning television program which is broadcast on CBS. The program debuted on September 7, 2021, and airs live every weekday from 7:00a.m. to 9:00a.m. It is hosted by Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson, ...
''
*''
CBS News Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...
''
*''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
''
*''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
''
*''
The Daily Buzz
''The Daily Buzz'' (occasionally abbreviated ''"theDBZ"'') is a nationally syndicated news and infotainment program. The show premiered as a 3-hour weekday morning television show on September 16, 2002, initially airing on 10 stations owned and ...
''
*
Breakfast television
Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...
References
External links
''The Early Show'' website!--Old URL http://web.archive.org/web/20000823100844/http://www.cbs.com/earlyshow/index.shtml for wayback machine purposes-->
The ''Saturday Early Show'' website*
* (''The CBS Morning News'')
* (''Morning'')
* (''The Morning Program'')
* (''CBS This Morning'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Early Show, The
1999 American television series debuts
2012 American television series endings
1990s American television news shows
2000s American television news shows
2010s American television news shows
CBS News
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Television shows filmed in New York City
Television morning shows in the United States