Katie Couric to leave CBS Evening News

Will do!


OK...


Expected


Very interesting! Is he still going strong?

And no Harry Smith? Or Erica Hill, for that matter? She seems highly thought of at CBS these days!

Well there was no real plan from what I gather, I was told by someone that Schieffer was doing it, but I suspect Harry Smith might well do it in the mean time.

The music is staying, I gather it will be adjusted though.

Interesting! I admit I've always been a fan of the CBS Evening News music (though The Early Show's always seemed out of place somehow...) but I despise the set they've used in recent years - Nightly News and World News beat it hands down in that area.

Though CBS' graphics are to die for, don't you think?

No, just no.

I think they should go down a BBC route really, maybe get Lambie-Nairn to do it all for them.

Am I that bad that I see BBC Midlands Today reflected in their current set?

Final Notebook: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7366612n

There's something negative about the CBS Evening News studio that I just can't put my finger on - maybe it's the use of the newsroom for the backdrop (compared to Nightly News/WN who both use mainly bare, blueish backgrounds behind each anchor) or the colour scheme? But yes, there are clear similarities between BBC Mids Today and the Evening News.

Regarding Lambie-Nairn, I think it would depend on the brief. An 'American' look with clear British inspiration could be a very compelling (and fresh) approach. Give them a clone of WNA's titles and CBS will be kept in third place for many years to come.


Regarding ratings, I think Scott Pelley's going to have a tough time of it. Nightly News has continued to pretty much hold strong and World News has been edging closer to it (long-term, at least, as has GMA to Today). If Diane Sawyer's appointment had been a failure, CBS might have been the underdog who offered an alternative to NBC. As it is, I think they're going to need something of a miracle to improve their share.

Lets hope from a presentation perspective, at least, things improve. Any news on graphics changes, out of interest?

NBC and ABC both actually have some great newsroom sets and backdrops. NBC's studio 3A (which is shared with MSNBC) is perhaps the best looking news set/newsroom in the US. The reason why CBS' newsroom looks so bad is because it's not a real newsroom and there's nobody in it. The American flag backdrop also looks quite bad.

I would love to see CBS do a full rebrand. All of the CBS News programs have the same drab look and music, which is a widely-held viewpoint. All of the CBS-owned local news outlets also have a unified look, though it was not done by CBS but rather Florida-based Giant Octopus. It's still very American looking and it's not that interesting, but it was executed much better than the national CBS News look. If CBS were smart, they would coincide Scott Pelley's takeover with a united rebrand of CBS News and the CBS local stations.

The show on Friday was anchored by Harry Smith. The only changes were that they took the theme music and turned the pitch up on it (I'm not joking) and they replaced Morgan Freeman's voiceover with a different one. They also obviously removed Katie Couric's name from the titles.

It is a real newsroom, built into Studio-47. CBSi are just around the corner from the backdrop.


AND YES - They changed the pitch of the music and it sounds absolutely disgusting! Emails are being sent (if they've not already sacked Bob Peterson!).

I know that, I'm just being harsh. Ever since they refurbished the set/newsroom in 2006 and again in 2009(?), it looks like a fake newsroom. It's too dark, and you can hardly ever see anyone working in it.



I almost wondered if it was a mistake, but it sounds deliberate. I searched and found a video of it. The quality of this video isn't great, but I assure all of you— it sounded exactly the same way when I saw it live:

Yup, it is vile!

Let's draw more Midlands Today/CBS News similarities! They've changed the pitch of the music, remember when Midlands Today did that?


I fear that Bob Peterson, or Eric Shapiro are staying in a hotel in the Midlands....

Good God, what were they thinking doing that to the theme tune? In fact why do it at all? If you were going to make changes you'd do it when the new anchor starts, surely, and get someone who knows what they're doing to make the change!

If CBS Evening News is going to have a new look, would they call Kemistry (Famous for their 2006 CNN Intl. graphics and NRK Nyheter) for that? They designed graphic packages for the CBS-branded channels in the UK back in 2009.

Funnily enough, I did a mock like the NRK titles they did! Will upload, I thought the CBS Eyemark worked well in it.