The Early Show
The Early Show is an American former morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, replacing the original incarnation of CBS This Morning, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program originally broadcast from the General Motors Building in New York City.
The Early Show, like many of its predecessors, traditionally placed third in the ratings, behind NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America.
Much like Today and its fellow NBC program The Tonight Show, The Early Show title was analogous to that of CBS's late-night talk show, The Late Show. Unlike CBS' other attempts at a morning news program, The Early Show followed the breakfast television style 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 chairman Jeff Fager and president David Rhodes stated would "redefine the morning television landscape." The Early Show ended its twelve-year run on January 7, 2012, replaced two days later on January 9 by the second version of CBS This Morning.
History of CBS's morning news shows
''The Morning Show'' (1954)
CBS' first attempt at a morning program debuted on March 15, 1954, with The Morning Show, originally hosted by Walter Cronkite with Charles Collingwood and very similar in format to Today. Additional hosts over the years included Jack Paar, John Henry Faulk and Dick Van Dyke. 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 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. In 1956, Paar was moved from The Morning Show to his own late-morning talk program on the network, which aired after Captain Kangaroo.''Good Morning! with Will Rogers Jr.'' (1956)
On February 2, 1956, CBS changed the title and host when it premiered Good Morning! with Will Rogers Jr., which was hosted by the former U.S. Congressman and journalist. A one hour program that aired from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time and provided news and information, it lasted for 14 months ending its run on April 5, 1957.''The Jimmy Dean Show'' (1957)
On April 8, 1957, a different version of The Morning Show premiered, a variety program hosted by country music singer Jimmy Dean. 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, and later Stuart Novins, which led into Captain Kangaroo at 8:00 a.m. It ended on December 13 after eight months.''The CBS Morning News'' (1963)
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 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, 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, which was hosted by Wallace's future 60 Minutes colleague Harry Reasoner.In August 1965, CBS decided it could get better ratings by airing reruns of I Love Lucy in the 10:00 a.m. slot. The network moved the Morning News to 7:05 a.m.. Wallace only lasted one more year after the move. Wallace left the program to serve as co-host on the news magazine show 60 Minutes, which saw him cover topics such as Richard Nixon's 1968 comeback presidential campaign.
Los Angeles newsman Joseph Benti was selected to replace Wallace. Notably, Benti was at a bar near the CBS Broadcast Center waiting for his shift to start as morning anchor on the early hours of June 6, 1968 when someone came onto the place to say that Robert F. Kennedy had been shot at midnight in California, necessitating having to try and get onto the air earlier than expected, complete with reports from Terry Drinkwater that saw Benti joined by Cronkite and Wallace midway through. It was during Joseph Benti's run 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. and CBS News Moscow correspondent Hughes Rudd 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 until 1972, and by Nelson Benton for a year afterwards. It was announced in May 1973 that Benton and Hart would be replaced in midsummer.
In an effort to emulate Today, which had Barbara Walters as a co-anchor, Rudd was teamed up with former The Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn, who received considerable publicity despite having no prior television experience. The broadcasts did little to shape the ratings beyond third place, with Quinn garnering little enthusiasm. In January 1974, she was removed from the anchor desk, with the network attempting to allow her to be a contributor from Washington. She declined the perceived demotion and departed the show on February 1. A more experienced correspondent, Bruce Morton, would replace her in the Washington bureau, 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. Following Morton's departure, correspondent Barry Serafin took over anchor duties at the Washington desk. Morton and Rudd were each awarded a Peabody Award for their work in 1976. The anchor desk was subsequently shared by the team of Lesley Stahl and Richard Threlkeld, while Morton and Rudd returned to provide feature reports and commentary; Rudd would again leave the program in 1979.
The ''Morning'' (1979)
On Sunday, January 28, 1979, CBS revamped the program, premiering Morning, which was titled in accordance to the day of the week. The weekday Morning series competed with Good Morning America and Today. Charles Kuralt hosted Sundays, while Bob Schieffer 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. 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, particularly since the Sunday edition did better with viewers. So on September 28, 1981, Morning dropped the days of the week from its title, was extended to 90 minutes and added Diane Sawyer as co-host. In the process, Captain Kangaroo was reduced to a half-hour daily and pushed to an earlier time period.
''The CBS Morning News'' (1982)
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. 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, anchor of the highly rated evening newscasts at WBBM-TV in Chicago, 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.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, anxious to move on, left in the fall of 1984 to become the first female correspondent on 60 Minutes.
CBS News correspondents Jane Wallace and Meredith Vieira 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 and The NFL Today co-host Phyllis George, who was given a three-year contract following a mere two-week trial run. Disputes between Kurtis and CBS over his role with George "over matters of journalistic style and substance" led to Kurtis returning to WBBM-TV in June.
The lowest point of her very brief tenure came on May 14, 1985, during George's interview with false rape accuser Cathleen Mae Webb and the man whom she had falsely accused, Gary Dotson. 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. Once again, Bob Schieffer served as a brief replacement. Phyllis George eventually left CBS for good that fall.
Maria Shriver, who had joined CBS as a West Coast feature reporter in 1983, and Forrest Sawyer, 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 News president Van Gordon Sauter announced that the early morning time slot would be handed to a newly created unit in the CBS Broadcast Group. Prodded by network affiliates who wanted something lighter than the news-oriented formats it had previously offered, 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 and Faith Daniels became the first in a string of substitutes to host Morning News until it left the air. With the loss of what had been its biggest block of air time in one form or another for two decades, dozens of employees were laid off, a factor that cost Sauter his job.
In an August 1986 Newsweek article, columnist Jonathan Alter 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 reported in The Washington Post, "throughout the industry there is shock and derision for the way CBS has handled 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."