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| Rather Canned Again: 60 Minutes II Cancelled |
| 2005-05-18 |
| As seen on Drudge CBS said Wednesday it is cancelling the Wednesday edition of "60 Minutes," insisting the decision was made because of poor ratings and not last fall's ill-fated story about President Bush's military service. Whatever. Dan Rather, the newsmagazine's lead correspondent, will contribute stories to the Sunday edition of "60 Minutes," said CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves. "This was a ratings call, not a content call," Moonves said Wednesday. Whatever. The newsmagazine spinoff was where Rather reported last September that Bush skirted some duty while in the Texas Air National Guard and a commander felt pressure to sugarcoat an evaluation of him. An independent panel later concluded that documents used in the story could not be verified. Moonves said that story didn't figure in the decision to cancel it, "not even slightly." Whatever. "60 Minutes" Wednesday has been sinking in the ratings, a decline accelerated by the success of the ABC drama "Lost" in the same time slot. The show also has one of the oldest audiences in prime-time television, considered a turn-off to advertisers. Moonves said CBS News President Andrew Heyward was telling his staff of the decision on Wednesday and it was too soon to tell if any layoffs will result. Except for Rather. CBS will likely run news specials during the year in prime-time, he said. Can't wait. The show was Rather's home base since he stepped down as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" in March. While he will report for "60 Minutes," it's not clear whether he will become one of the correspondents pictured every week at the beginning of the show. He's still better looking than Leslie Stahl, however. |
| Posted by:Chris W. |
| #8 Oh yeah. Rather was the only looney in the bin and CBS isn't institutionally bent at 90 deg to the Left. Uh huh, sans Rather it's a paragon of sensible, fair, journalistic ideals. Yewbetcha. Up the meds. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-18 23:30 |
| #7 Now it is safe for our kids to watch CBS. No more Mr. dumbass to lie to folks. I for one am glad to see him gone, and soon to be forgotten. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-05-18 22:59 |
| #6 Call the proposed show "The Rather Files" -- the ratings would be great! |
| Posted by: Ebbavith Angang9747 2005-05-18 22:51 |
| #5 CSI:Dan Rather Good. Finally, we can get to the bottom of the "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" mystery. And maybe get to see Dan take a beating every week like Jim Rockford used to do. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2005-05-18 22:15 |
| #4 Look for him soon in "CSI:Dan Rather"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-18 17:37 |
| #3 CBS will replace 60 Minutes with Wednesday Night Golf, since no golf show has ever required viewers to stay on air. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-05-18 16:47 |
| #2 :) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-05-18 16:41 |
| #1 Now he can spend more quality time as a docent at the Nixon Presidential Library. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2005-05-18 16:30 |