Switching Chairs

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ENTERTAINMENT

Zoren: Anchors away! Networks look at a shift

Published: Monday, April 11, 2011

By NEAL ZOREN
Times Television Columnist

At several television networks, signs in the windows will have to read “Anchors Wanted.” All who see themselves doing news for the long haul, please apply.

These signs spring from reports that Katie Couric is leaving her anchor post at CBS, that both Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira are considering giving up their jobs on NBC’s “Today,” and the confirmed news that CNN’s Anderson Cooper is going to do a syndicated daytime talk show. Add Glenn Beck and Fox into that mix, and you have a stew of transition similar to the period when Peter Jennings died, and Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather left their anchor positions.

Transition is good. Couric never became a significant force as a journalist or commentator at CBS. That network is way overdue to consider its news efforts and the flagship daily program that presents them. Anything Couric does will be better than her tenure at CBS.

Lauer and Vieira are a different case. “Today” continues to compete against ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Lauer and Vieira are both excellent broadcasters who have proven they don’t need a news base to be effective hosts, moderators, and interviewers. Both leaving at once might be beneficial to NBC. It gives the network a chance to build a new team that will begin at the same time, thus presenting the Katie Couric seniority mode when Lauer came to “Today,” and the Lauer seniority mode when Couric left “Today” and Vieira replaced her. Wherever Matt or Meredith land, you know the viewer is the winner. They are top-notch.

Cooper needs his own outlet. One wonders if he has to leave CNN to get one. In recent years, he has been commenting as much as he’s been reporting. Perhaps a talk program on which giving opinion or taking an attitude would be more seemly if the best move on him. As for Beck, the next item goes into his career.

Television has changed. Anchor posts are no longer the fiefdom they once were, positions that were expected to be held for decades by revered news people who America trusted and looked upon to tell a fair story, Bob Schieffer and Charles Osgood may be the last of those breeds. ABC’s Diane Sawyer is the only one I can see following in their mold.

Departures give networks to chance to rethink and reform. I think this is a good time for that. Obviously Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, and Anderson Cooper agree with me. They probably prefer to move on. Couric and Beck are another story. They most likely received a nudge if not an outright push. It will be interesting to see where and how they all land.