On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 12:14 PM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]> wrote: > Stelter, NY Times: The adults-25-to-54 numbers for the CBS stalwart jump a > couple of tenths, about 6 %... Fager gives partial credit to the show's > burgeoning Internet elements. A source suggests it would get even better > if/when they can hire Anderson full-time...
I am impressed with the way 60 Minutes has transitioned to a younger generation of producers and reporters. The show has been so closely identified with Don Hewitt, Mike Wallace, and Andy Rooney, and CBS seemed to be so loyal to them that I thought the show would fade when they (and Morley) were no longer there. Among nonprofits (and probably for-profit businesses too, but I only know from nonprofits) there is a phenomenon known as "founders' syndrome" where a group start a new organization, say, in the late sixties, and serve as the organization's board for 40 years. As they begin to retire from pressing obligations they want to hand the reins off to a younger generation, but they have been so zealous about holding power themselves that they never recruited or trained successors. The only an organization survives it is by recognizing that is what is going on and taking corrective steps before it is too late. I remember 60 Minutes II which seemed more of a change of direction than a training ground for succession. I think CBS News saw where the show failed and brought the best of it into 60 Minutes as a succession strategy. I don't know how many of the segment producers are younger, but they are working at a very high standard and that is keeping the show going at a very high standard. I also like the way the show is now bringing in other correspondents which keeps the show concentrated on stories and not the stars' personalities. If I were running the show I would bring Byron Pitts full time and drop Lara Logan to part time. I will be generous to her and say that they have not yet found a way to use her strengths as a reporter. Another way of saying it is she adds nothing to a story by the way she reports it. For the record I feel the same way about Scott Pelley and making him Evening News anchor, which does play to his strengths, raises the level of both 60 Minutes and CBS Evening News. I think Anderson Cooper does an okay job but I fear that paying to bring him in full time put CBS News in the same trap they had with Katie Couric. From the time she was hired there were professionals who said that CBS should have taken the salary they were paying her and applied it to news gathering. I do not think Cooper is looking for that kind of money but he can command a lot and 60 Minutes will be better off using its resources for news gathering rather than star reporters. Having seen what happened to Nightline, the Sunday morning news shows, CNN, etc I am glad that 60 Minutes has been able to hold on. They have been able to do top notch reporting on financial stories and keep up with influential newsmakers like Geoffrey Canada and Gustavo Dudamel. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
