CBS Evening News w/ Katie Couric

I'll admit at the start that I'm slightly biased - I work for CBS News. However, with CBS News relaunching the Evening News in September with Katie Couric at the anchor desk, I think it's worth having a seperate thread to log any response from those of you whom may watch it through SKY News.

This is what is know publicly so far:

The broadcast will be simulcast through the CBS News website live each night. In addition, there will be a series of reports throughout the day on air and online that will deal with the issues on that evening's broadcast and the stories behind them. For those that subscribe, there will be additional updates, with Katie Couric providing taped previews, behind the scenes reports and blogging.

What hasn't been widely circulated in the media, though is public knowledge is the following:

The titles, graphics and music to the broadcast have been completely overhauled, with the introduction of new music that will be utilised across all CBS News programming. In addition, there will be a shift in the scheduling (of which I cannot say anymore at the moment because of negotiations) which will mean the CBS reflects the BBC/ITV approach to news bulletins throughout the day, notably during the morning, lunchtime and afternoon... For the rehersals which have been taking place so far, the 'open' - stating 'CBS Evening News with Katie Couric' - has been voiced by the former anchor of the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite. For those that have an appreciation of the US broadcast industry, this is some coup; to be 'supported' or 'advocated' by Cronkite in this way denotes a level of credibilty and belief in the values to which both the anchor and the network aspire.

With regards to the set, expect some surprises. The entire set and newsroom has been struck and a new one is in place. It replaces the mahogany of old with a more subtle maple wood, accompanied by a mix of traditional colours (red and blue) and more subtler colours (purples). I'm hoping to get some photos published at some point soon with behind the scenes looks, but it's a bit diffifcult at the moment to get anywhere near the news centre during a quiet time. Moreover, I'm also working out of Washington DC and Los Angeles at the moment. There are large plasma screens in use at the moment, with the potential (thanks to the original designs) to incorporate more or larger screens in the future or ahead of the launch.

For those of you that regularly watch the network broadcasts from the US, I'd be interested in what you hope will happen and what does happen with the broadcast

Looking forward to seeing this. I hope CBS reduce the size of the astons, as at one point they seemed to be in competition with NBC to see how big a font size they could get the names on the screen!

I'm also intregued about the theme music composed by James Horner. I understand it's an orchestral composition, which I think is a bad move, as every main network news show theme sounds like a symphony.
To do something different I would have reworked 'The Enforcer' local CBS news theme. It's a great tune and would sound different to the swamp of other network news tunes, and to those affiliates that use the theme for their broadcasts, give a bit of national>local synergy to the broadcasts.

What has happened to CBS News on Sky?

I've tuned in a couple of night at 00:30 and despite it being on the EPG it's not aired!

I think I heard the new theme on a promo for my local CBS News radio station WCBS 880. THey will simulcast the show for the radio listners. Am I right that it is laced with piano, and soothing, yet jazzy?

Bob just had his send off, it seemed to be move of an event than when Dan went.

Who is going to host for the next 5 days?

I'm actually over in New York at the moment, and must admit Katie exposure is everywhere! Every bus has her picture on the front of it. I'm looking forward to Monday to see how it pans out! I've been Katie follower for some years, but was let down last year when I stood outside the today show for 5 hours to meet her, only for her to walk past me

I know! WCBS-AM is showing the promo every ten minutes, and even had a goodbye interview with Bob Scheiffer. Not sure about the bus ads though. The buses outside my flat seem to only have CW11 and My9 ads.

Russ Mitchell will host on Friday, the weekend editions will have their regular hosts, and Russ Mitchell will host the Monday edition, which is a public holiday in the US. Katie Couric will then begin her tenure on Tuesday.

I was going to make a point about this too - it seems like CBS News is not consistently shown nowadays; simply on the odd occassion.

Strange - hope it's on tonight - I'd like to see if how they are covering the Bush assassination story!

It's not as if it's being dropped due to big UK stories - you could understand it then (though still it's more interesting to see how (and if) the US networks are covering it!)

So now you've all had a chance to look over the new set. As Bob announced Thursday, there are still some changes being made to the set and the newsroom, but these are only going to be minor tweaks and adjustments. Most of the big changes you've seen - the set, the colours, the stacked CBS Eye device through the years dotted around the place. The next set of difference you'll note is in the graphics package and the music.

More fundamentally, however, the biggest change in the broadcast is that Katie is taking over the anchor desk. For so many years, many believed that for a network newscast to be successful, to condense the world's news into 22 minutes, you needed an anchor of integrity, respect, credibility, knowledge, experience etc. And as one commentator has noted in the WSJ, that anchor was always male. That changes Tuesday.

For the record, Friday's edition was anchored by Russ Mitchell. Thalia Assuras will be in on Saturday (tonight), and Russ will be back on Sunday and Monday. Tuesday, be sure to watch The Early Show, where Katie Couric will be previewing that evening's broadcast. And at 6.30 EDT (11.30BST), the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will air.

The mood here is positive. So much time and effort has been put into this, to ensuring that we've listened to the public, our critics, etc. We think that we've finally put together a broadcast that not only we are proud of, but that the viewers will want to watch. It will mix Bob Schieffer's interplay with the correspondents with Walter Cronkite's trust, and just maybe, people will recognise the values that have traditionally been associated with CBS News.

For what it's worth, the new theme has not been played much. It has been used by some affiliates in certain markets, but in those instances, it has been restricted to edits from the second or third movement. The real theme, the one heard each night, will launch Tuesday.