CBS Early Show...New Host Lineup debuts 10/28
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Myjohnhenry

Monday, October 14, 2002 - 07:44 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Eonline Article

CBS' "Early" Revamp

by Josh Grossberg
Oct 14, 2002, 10:45 AM PT

CBS is waking up Early with a fresh set of faces.

With Bryant Gumbel long gone, Jane Clayson reassigned and Nielsens still lagging behind its a.m. rivals, the Eyeball unveiled its new and (hopefully) improved Early Show on Monday.

The network had gone back to the drawing board to revive the moribund breakfast cast and came up with a breezier format featuring a quartet of hosts: former CBS anchor Harry Smith, NBC Sports fixture Hannah Storm, current Early Show news reader Julie Chen and a newbie--Rene Syler, a local anchor from Dallas.

The new team was announced by CBS News boss Andrew Heyward, whose vision for the retooled show sounds a lot like the coffee-friendly format championed by ABC's The View, but network planners bristle at such comparisons.

"First and foremost, the new Early Show is a news program so we'll continue to provide viewers with the stories and issues of the day, as well as local weather and news," says Heyward. "But our anchors will also give viewers a more spontaneous broadcast with four distinct personalities adding their own interests to the mix. The result will be a lively, unconventional and engaging program."

The four anchors will take turns reporting the top stories of the day, conducting interviews, emceeing feature stories and, of course, chatting it up on the air.

"In addition to being free from the conventional format of anchors simply alternating stories for two hours, when news warrants, our anchors won't be chained to the studio," explains Michael Bass, the show's senior executive producer. "We'll showcase their diverse strengths and interests and give viewers a distinctive alternative in the morning."

This will be a homecoming of sorts for Smith, 51, who's been headlining A&E's Biography series since 1999, but before that was employed at CBS for 13 years as an anchor, correspondent and contributor to various shows, including CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. He also served as cohost for CBS This Morning between 1987 and 1996.

The 40-year-old Storm shot to fame as an anchor and reporter over at NBC Sports, where she's worked for the last 10 years, becoming the first female to solo anchor a national sports package when she covered the NBA championships and Major League Baseball, including three World Series.

Chen, 32 is perhaps best known to viewers at home as the anchor of CBS Morning News and the overseer of the Eyeball's Big Brother.

The 39-year-old Syler, meanwhile, hails from CBS' Dallas affiliate KTVT, where she anchored the noon and six o'clock broadcasts.

CBS had tried to liven up its morning show three years ago, paying big bucks to sign former Today host Bryant Gumbel as anchor and spending $30 million to build a brand-new glass-paneled studio along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. Then, following a highly publicized search for a coanchor dubbed "Operation Glass Slipper," producers paired him with former ABC News correspondent Clayson, with the goal of finally cracking the lucrative morning market.

Instead, the chemistry experiment failed, and ratings plummeted dropped to levels below that of the show it replaced, CBS This Morning. Gumbel exited the show in May when his contract expired and executives set about finding a new partner for Clayson, pairing her with various guest hosts before finally seeking her ouster.

The constant shuffling also caused consternation among local affiliates, who have favored dropping the national chatfest in favor of their own local morning show.

As opposed to 1999, when the network hyped Gumbel's hiring as the antidote to depressed ratings and a third-place finish, this time around, executives are hoping to avoid setting the bar too high, preferring to let the new anchors do the talking.

Over the last three years, The Early Show has been in the ratings dungeon, far behind NBC's top-rated Today and ABC's second place Good Morning America, which last week averaged 5.7 million and 4.6 million viewers, respectively.

The new Early show anchored by Smith and company is set to debut October 28.

Sia

Monday, October 14, 2002 - 08:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Mjh, I read that awful news earlier this evening! Thanks for posting the article here. It is extremely disappointing to me to learn the network's choices for anchors. I LOVED Jane Clayson and thought she did a fabulous job. Bryant Gumbel has never been someone I could tolerate, so I was glad he was gone. Tom Bergeron actually did a nice job when co-hosting with Jane, and Mark McEwen is a doll--yet they let him go!! What is CBS thinking? I consider Julie Chen to be a newsreader with an expensive wardrobe and not a good interviewer at all........NEXT!! Wish they'd kept looking!

Marysafan

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - 07:54 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I have to agree with Sia...but then I was a faithful viewer of CBS This morning with Harry Smith, Paula Zahn, and Marc McEwen.

I find Julie Chen lacking in personality and interviewing skills. (They should have kept Jane).

Jo_5329

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - 08:28 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hey guys --- Fox News as a great morning show: "Fox and Friends"

Three great hosts! Two guys and a gal

Try something new for a change!

Trust me, the "network" morning shows pale in comparision to Fox and Friends in the morning!

Car54

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - 08:59 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I am not that much of a CBS Early Show viewer, but I think Harry Smith is very pleasant, and Julie Chen has improved a lot recently. I remember Hannah from the Olympics and thought she did a good job. Not familiar with the other new person.

Lumbele

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - 09:04 am EditMoveDeleteIP
All those years ago when Harry Smith cohosted the morning show, CBS was an alternative for me, but it went downhill after that.
The man never did anything to warrant it, but for some reason I have always wanted to give Bryant Gumbel a swift kick.buttkicking Katie Couric seemed to be the only one to keep him in check.whip The moment he started at CBS I stopped tuning in there. Heck, I didn't even know he left!
Harry Smith may have a tough row to hoe though, Julie Chen isn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type that goes down well with your first cuppa.

Sia

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - 03:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I do like Harry Smith. He's perfectly all right with me. I want Jane Clayson back! To whom can I voice my opinion in a meaningful way with the CBS network?

I don't have cable/satellite and am stuck watching network news. As long as CBS carries "Survivor" and "Big Brother," I'll watch CBS for morning news in order to try and catch the interviews with the contestants.

Pottedplant

Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 03:31 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I like Jane Clayson alot too, & I also like Mark McEwan. I do not like Harry Smith, & don't care much for Julie Chen either, although she has grown on me over the past few years of BB.
All this messing & I bet the ratings don't improve at all.

Mamaanja

Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 03:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Julie Chen is only 32???

I'm older than Julie Chen???

(mamaanja wanders off to find a mirror to see if she looks as old as she thinks Julie Chen looks)

Reiki

Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 09:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I love Harry Smith. I watched CBS in the mornings when Harry and Paula were on before. So now I will flip back and forth between CBS and CNN and still have Harry and Paula in the morning with the occassional Anderson :)

Julieboo

Thursday, October 17, 2002 - 08:00 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Ever since Jane Clayson started ripping on Blake & Paige (from AR2), I lost respect. Especially considering she didn't even watch AR! She's very cute, but I am glad she's gone.

Dallasbbfan

Thursday, October 17, 2002 - 02:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I live in Dallas and have watched Rene Seyler. Give her a chance, she's pretty good. We seem to churn out female anchors (Ashley Banfield started here) but keep the same male anchors around forever.

Marysafan

Friday, November 01, 2002 - 12:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I watched a couple of shows this week and so far am not unhappy with the mix. Julie Chen has surprised me the most. I have been very vocal in my criticism of her performance from her Big Brother gig since the beginning, but now she finally seems to showing us the viewers that she is a rather engaging personality...with a sense of humor!

I already love Harry Smith from this previous Early show duty as well as being a hard core Biography fan. I have always admired Hannah Storm for her spunk, and knowledgeable sports coverage. So now it is just getting used to the new gal from Dallas and the new format...which I seem to like.

I could see how this show would appeal more to female viewers. Hard news with a soft touch...along with intelligent, engaging banter. I give it a thumbs up so far!

By the way...I LOVED Harry's line to Shi Anne from survivor this morning...he said, "You looked like a girl with a bad case of tribal envy".

Jagger

Friday, November 01, 2002 - 01:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Jo 5329 I agree the Fox early show is pretty good, although I think they are probably on earlier than the cbs early show. Fox is on at 5am central time and I don't think the early show starts till like 7 am central time, not sure of cbs time cause I'm at work by than.

Goddessatlaw

Friday, November 01, 2002 - 01:55 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm a huge Fox and Friends fan. I'll turn it on and listen to it at 5:00 a.m. even if I'm not ready to wake up yet - I hate missing any part of their newscast. I'll never watch another morning show - and I'm positive I could not handle Julie Chen yapping at me first thing in the morning.