Regis Philbin
Mar 8th, 2007, 06:45 PM
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03082007/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm
CBS SHAKEUP TO RESCUE KATIE
March 8, 2007 -- RICK Kaplan, a giant in TV journalism (he's 6-foot-7), is being brought in by CBS News President Sean McManus to rescue Katie Couric's languishing ratings from third place.
In his long career, Kaplan, 59 - a close friend of Bill Clinton - ran MSNBC until his ouster last summer. He has also run CNN and had a big role at ABC News. He will replace Rome Hartman as executive producer of "The CBS Evening News," insiders told Page Six.
"There was agreement that changes had to be made. Rome and Sean remain close colleagues, and Rome has a bright future with CBS News, but this was definitely a Sean McManus decision," one source said. "This was a competitive move, an aggressive move by Sean."
During the crucial February sweeps, CBS drew a nightly average of 7.6 million viewers to its evening newscast, trailing ABC's Charlie Gibson with 9.69 million, and NBC's Brian Williams with 9.65 million. Williams, who had been No. 1, was so upset to lose his lead that NBC removed his executive producer, John Reiss, last week.
Couric's rating are actually lower now by 120,000 viewers than her predecessor Bob Schieffer's were a year ago.
"Katie Couric makes $15 million a year, and she's a proven star. You know they weren't going to fire her," an insider said.
But CBS veterans should brace themselves for Kaplan's arrival - "He's a bull in a china shop. He's going to bend a lot of people the wrong way," our source said.
CBS SHAKEUP TO RESCUE KATIE
March 8, 2007 -- RICK Kaplan, a giant in TV journalism (he's 6-foot-7), is being brought in by CBS News President Sean McManus to rescue Katie Couric's languishing ratings from third place.
In his long career, Kaplan, 59 - a close friend of Bill Clinton - ran MSNBC until his ouster last summer. He has also run CNN and had a big role at ABC News. He will replace Rome Hartman as executive producer of "The CBS Evening News," insiders told Page Six.
"There was agreement that changes had to be made. Rome and Sean remain close colleagues, and Rome has a bright future with CBS News, but this was definitely a Sean McManus decision," one source said. "This was a competitive move, an aggressive move by Sean."
During the crucial February sweeps, CBS drew a nightly average of 7.6 million viewers to its evening newscast, trailing ABC's Charlie Gibson with 9.69 million, and NBC's Brian Williams with 9.65 million. Williams, who had been No. 1, was so upset to lose his lead that NBC removed his executive producer, John Reiss, last week.
Couric's rating are actually lower now by 120,000 viewers than her predecessor Bob Schieffer's were a year ago.
"Katie Couric makes $15 million a year, and she's a proven star. You know they weren't going to fire her," an insider said.
But CBS veterans should brace themselves for Kaplan's arrival - "He's a bull in a china shop. He's going to bend a lot of people the wrong way," our source said.