News

Sandy Cohen, AP Entertainment Writer

Los Angeles (AP) - James Horner, who composed music for dozens of films and won two Oscars for his work on "Titanic," died when his plane crashed in Southern California, his agents confirmed Tuesday. He was 61.

Agents Michael Gorfaine and Sam Schwartz issued a statement saying Horner had died, although official confirmation could take several days while the Ventura County coroner works to identify the remains of the pilot, who was the only person on board.

People who fueled the plane at an airport in Camarillo confirmed that he took off in the aircraft Monday morning, said Horner's attorney, Jay Cooper.

The S-312 Tucano MK1 turboprop crashed and burned in a remote area of the Los Padres National Forest, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Horner's credits ran the gamut From big-budget blockbusters to foreign-language indies. He even composed the theme song for the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.

The award-winning Katie Couric will be joining me soon on Mondays with Marlo! Ask her anything you'd like to know about:

Her Interviewing TechniquesHer InterviewsReporting In Disaster ZonesPolitics and the Upcoming ElectionHealthParentingLossBuilding Her Television CareerBullying In SchoolsHer Thoughts On The Concerns Of Women TodayHer Plans For The Future

Post your questions in the comment section below!

Katie Couric is an award-winning journalist and TV personality, well-known cancer advocate, and New York Times best-selling author of "The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons From Extraordinary Lives."

Couric joined the Disney/ABC Television Group in Summer 2011 and serves as special correspondent for ABC News, contributing to "ABC World News," "Nightline," "20/20," "Good Morning America," "This Week" and prime time news specials. Beginning in September 2012, she will host a new syndicated daytime talk show, "Katie."

In September 2006, Couric became the first female solo anchor of an evening news broadcast. Couric served as anchor and...

The award-winning Katie Couric will be joining me soon on Mondays with Marlo! Ask her anything you'd like to know about:

Her Interviewing TechniquesHer InterviewsReporting In Disaster ZonesPolitics and the Upcoming ElectionHealthParentingLossBuilding Her Television CareerBullying In SchoolsHer Thoughts On The Concerns Of Women TodayHer Plans For The Future

Post your questions in the comment section below!

Katie Couric is an award-winning journalist and TV personality, well-known cancer advocate, and New York Times best-selling author of "The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons From Extraordinary Lives."

Couric joined the Disney/ABC Television Group in Summer 2011 and serves as special correspondent for ABC News, contributing to "ABC World News," "Nightline," "20/20," "Good Morning America," "This Week" and prime time news specials. Beginning in September 2012, she will host a new syndicated daytime talk show, "Katie."

In September 2006, Couric became the first female solo anchor of an evening news broadcast. Couric served as anchor and...

The 32nd Annual Emmy Awards for News & Documentary took place at New York City’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Monday night, and CBS walked away the biggest victor of the evening, with 10 wins. Larry King was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades-spanning career in broadcasting, including 25 years of Larry King Live. King was presented with the award by NBC anchor Brian Williams, who King cited alongside Dan Rather as one of his “two favorite people.” An emotional King told the audience, “I was lucky enough to be in a business where I really didn’t have to work.

CBS topped the news and documentary Emmys, handed out in a ceremony tonight at the Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York. The network took home 10 awards, 7 of which were for 60 Minutes. National Geographic Channel followed with 7 total, and PBS won 6, with 2 of its Emmys going to the documentary Food Inc. A list of winners follows: Outstanding Coverage Of A Breaking News Story In A Regularly Scheduled Newscast: Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), Haiti in Ruins Outstanding Continuing Coverage Of A News Story In A Regularly Scheduled Newscast: CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (CBS), Afghan Bomb Squad Outstanding Feature Story In A Regularly Scheduled Newscast BBC World News America (BBC America), Inside the North Korean Bubble Outstanding Investigative Journalism In A Regularly Scheduled Newscast: CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (CBS), Photocopiers Hidden Dangers Outstanding Business And Economic Reporting In A Regulary Scheduled Newscast: Sunday Morning (CBS) Outstanding Coverage Of A...

Disney/ABC Television Group (Datg) has signed a multi-year, multi-platform agreement with Katie Couric, award-winning journalist, best-selling author and popular TV personality, to host and produce her own nationally syndicated talk show and to join the ABC News team, it was announced today by Anne Sweeney, president, Disney/ABC Television Group and co-chair, Disney Media Networks. The program will be distributed by Disney/ABC Domestic Television and will premiere in September 2012.

Couric, the former Today co-anchor who was most recently anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric, a 60 Minutes correspondent and host of the weekly online interview series, @katiecouric, will be reunited with Jeff Zucker, who will be an executive producer with Couric on the yet-to-be-named syndicated series, which will be based in New York and produced in conjunction with Disney/ABC.

In addition to hosting the new syndicated program, Couric will join the ABC News team,...

Los Angeles, CA, United States (Celebrity News Service) - Well that didn't take long. After signing off the air as anchor of "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" just late last month, Katie Couric just signed a multi-platform deal with ABC to bring a new show to the air in 2012.

After reported talks with both her former homes at CBS and NBC, Couric will head a new syndicated dayime show for ABC, which is set to debut in September 2012, and will also join the ABC News team.

Couric will beef up ABC's upcoming daytime line-up which is set to include the new programs "The Chew" and "The Revolution," and popular soap "General Hospital."

The announcement was made today by Anne Sweeney, president, Disney/ABC Television Group and co-chair, Disney Media Group. "We look forward to having Katie join the best News team in the business, and to working with her...

Former CBS Evening News With Katie Couric executive producer Rome Hartman has been tapped as executive producer of NBC's new primetime newsmagazine hosted by Brian Williams. Additionally, with NBC News' primetime presence on NBC expanded to two programs, Dateline exec producer David Corvo has been named Senior Executive Producer, Primetime News, overseeing Dateline and the new newsmagazine. Hartman most recently served as Executive Producer at BBC News, where he developed, launched and produced U.S.-targeted newscast BBC World News America. Before that, Hartman spent 24 years at CBS, including serving as the executive producer of The CBS Evening News, where he oversaw the launch of CBS Evening News With Katie Couric. He also produced more than 100 reports for 60 Minutes and served as the senior producer on 60 Minutes II.

He was out of work a matter of hours? Rick Kaplan, who announced his exit as executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on Tuesday, has been hired as executive producer of ABC's This Week with Christiane Amanpour. ABC News president Ben Sherwood announced the hire today, describing Kaplan's mission as a bold one: "to lead This Week to #1 and to guide ABC News to dominance in the 2012 elections and beyond."...

Hollywood Gossip! Why did CBS evening news anchor Katie Couric really quit her job? [May 2] Host of CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, news anchor Katie Couric will be leaving CBS. Formerly part of The Today Show, the 60 Minute correspondent will be looking for new projects to take on. As a woman in the media, she was met with challenges that left her wanting to revise her career goals. Katie Couric has shared she would like the opportunity to report on stories that visit issues from various angles, not just the single views expressed on her show the CBS Evening News. Traditionally, men news anchors are able to delve into heated topics and rise in status as news anchors. Katie, a long time news celebrity has been unable to break that glass ceiling that so many women encounter in their professional development. As a role model, and someone that advocate on behalf of women for women,...

If Katie Couric wants her old job back, it may soon be available. With attention focused on Couric's likely departure from "CBS Evening News," The Hollywood Reporter says Meredith Vieira, her replacement on NBC's "Today," is quietly planning her own exit. (Couric, meanwhile, is said to be fielding offers from NBC, among others.) Vieira wants to leave the top-rated morning show to spend more time with her husband, who is ill, says the Reporter, citing sources. Vieira joined Matt Lauer on the show in 2006 after Couric's departure to CBS. While that transition...

ReelzChannel Celebrity Rundown

Charlie Sheen's "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour looked like a plain old bomb when it launched in Detroit on Saturday night, as the actor was nearly booed off stage in an atmosphere described as "that of a professional wrestling match." Audience member Natasha Sutton of Rochester, Michigan, described the show more simply to People saying "It was all crap."

After the show, someone on Team Sheen suggested driving the tour bus straight back to Los Angeles, but Sheen said "F**k that," and stayed up until 4:30 Am reworking the format for last night's Chicago performance that began and ended with a standing ovation.

***

RadarOnline.com reports that while Lindsay Lohan lost out to Amy Adams in the role of Lois Lane in the Superman reboot, she is still being considered for a spot in the pic, possibly as a villain. Meanwhile, LiLo has been offered...

Katie Couric is likely to step down as the anchor of "CBS Evening News," but could stay with the network as a regular on "60 Minutes" and the host of a daytime talk show, a person familiar with the situation told TheWrap. Couric, whose five-year contract ends in June, is not expected to make any decision for several weeks about whether to stay with CBS. Several other networks have expressed interest in her. Also read: David Letterman to Katie Couric: 'You Can't Leave the Network, Can You?' The New York Post reported Monday...

There will be a one-hour program documenting the major earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday, March 11 afternoon. Discovery and its sister network Science Channel are the first to order specials with the reserved title of "Anatomy of a Disaster".

Set to air in early April in both networks, the special will include unprecedented footage of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake, resulting tsunami, the ripple effect which can be found as far away as Oregon and California, the aftermath and response efforts around the world.

"On the strength of our institutional reach and relationships, Discovery Channel and Science Channel will offer a one-of-a-kind look into today's epic natural tragedy," said Clark Bunting, president and Gm of Discovery Channel. " 'Anatomy of a Disaster' will depict a race against time, from the first wave to hit Sendai, to acts of incredible heroism still yet to occur."

On top of this special, major networks...

Flagship programs on CBS and NBC did well at the 31st annual edition of the News and Documentary Emmys. "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" won both breaking and continuing coverage of a news story, while "Today" took home the feature award. And "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" prevailed for both investigative journalism and business and economic reporting. The equivalent prizes for the newsmagazine shows were split five ways: "Dateline NBC" (breaking news), "60 Minutes" (continuing coverage), "HDNet World Report" (feature), "Frontline" (investigative) and "Dan Rather Reports" (business and economic reporting). Overall, CBS won seven Emmys, NBC earned six and PBS prevailed in five races. Six channels — ABC, HDNet, History, National Geographic, Planet...

New York -- In an upset at Monday night's 31st annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, CBS News with seven honors and NBC News with six wins plus a CNBC award edged out usual frontrunner PBS, which earned five awards.

Fox News doesn't submit entries, and with the exception of the one CNBC award, the other cable news networks were shut out.

David Letterman extortionist Joe Halderman, who was nominated for his work as producer on an episode of CBS' "48 Hours Mystery," did not win. It wasn't clear whether Halderman was in attendance during the event, held at Jazz at Lincoln Center, but he wasn't expected to be in the house.

Among the surprising winners: Sundance Channel and Planet Green won two awards, and VH1 won one.

One underlying theme was the state of the TV news industry as speakers at the event repeatedly put the spotlight on staff and budget...

Writer Mark Boal was given the best original screenplay award at the 2010 Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards for his screenplay for the film "The Hurt Locker" beating out other nominees "(500) Days of Summer," "Avatar," "The Hangover," and "A Serious Man."

"Up in the Air" writers Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner won the best adapted screenplay award beating out "Crazy Heart," "Julie & Julia," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," and "Star Trek."

Winning the best documentary screenplay was Mark Monroe for "The Cove." Other documentary nominees were "Against the Tide," "Capitalism: A Love Story," "Earth Days," "Good Hair," and "Soundtrack for a Revolution."

Here's the complete list of WGA Awards winners (for the nominees and my accurate predictions, ahem, click here):

2010 WGA Awards Winners

Screen Winners

Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment

Adapted Screenplay

Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman...

The 2010 Writers Guild of America Awards Winners The Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) and the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) tonight announced the winners of the 2010 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, and videogame writing at simultaneous ceremonies at the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City and the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Susie Essman of Curb Your Enthusiasm hosted the East Coast show, which was executive produced by Craig Shemin, who was also the head writer. Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) hosted the West Coast show, which was executive produced by Spike Jones, Jr.

The Writers Guild of America, East presented special honors to: Alan Zweibel - Ian McLellan Hunter Lifetime Achievement Award; Gary David Goldberg - Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence; Edward Albee - Evelyn F. Burkey Award for contributions...

At last night’s Writers Guild Awards, Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) and Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) landed the top awards for Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay. Generally, the winners of the Writers Guild Awards go on to win Oscars, so I hope they’ve both prepared another speech.

Other winners last night were The Cove for Documentary Screenplay, Mad Men for drama series, 30 Rock for comedy series, Modern Family for new series, and Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tied for comedy/variety series.

Hit the jump for the full list of winners:

2010 Awards Winners

Screen Winners

Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment

Adapted Screenplay

Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures

Documentary Screenplay

The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions

Television Winners

Drama Series

Mad Men,...

As hard as it may be to believe sometimes, someone (or someones) actually sits down and writes a movie or TV show before you end up seeing it at your local multiplex or on your favorite TV network. The people who do the sitting and the writing are, surprisingly, called writers and, like the Directors, the Golden Globes and the Oscars, they have their own awards show.

This week, the Writers Guild of America, which is the trade group and advocate for writers, announced its nominations for outstanding achievement in feature film and television, radio, news, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2009 season to be honored at the upcoming 2010 Writers Guild Awards on February 20, 2010, in Los Angeles and New York.

We realize that these nominations may not be as glamorous as the Golden Globes or the Oscars, but we kinda like writers around here and think they do a pretty important job.

It’s mid-December and that can only mean one thing: awards season. Today, the WGA announced their TV nominations (feature nominations will be announced Jan. 11th) and it’s the usual suspects for the most part with a couple of surprises. Mad Men, 30 Rock, The Office, and newcomer Modern Family earned 3 nominations each. Meanwhile, popular fan favorite Glee received two. There are a lot of categories and nominees so I’m just going to mention the two big awards before the jump.

The nominees for Best Drama Series are: Breaking Bad, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Lost, and Mad Men. The nominees for Best Comedy Series are: 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Modern Family, and The Office.

The WGA will announce the winners on Feb. 20th. Hit the jump to see the full list of nominees.

Drama Series

“Breaking Bad” - Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, George Mastras,...

Walter Cronkite, for decades the embodiment of TV news, died Friday night in New York, his family said. The avuncular anchor once dubbed "the most trusted man in America" was 92 and had been in failing health. “My father Walter Cronkite died,” his son Chip said Friday night. CBS interrupted programming to show an obit of the legendary anchorman. Missouri born and Texas raised, the robust young Cronkite dropped out of college in 1935 to cover news and sports for various newspapers around the heartland, and, in 1936, met his future wife, Betsy, while working at the Oklahoma City radio station Wky. World...

The Presidential Inauguration is just around the corner and the news stations are gearing up for non-stop coverage of the historic event. News anchor Katie Couric will anchor "The Inauguration Of The 44th President," CBS News' live, comprehensive broadcast and online coverage of Inauguration Day. CBS will cover all ceremonies, as well as key interviews and analysis from the CBS News Inauguration Team, on January 20 from Washington, D.C.

Celebrity News Service has learned that Couric will also anchor a live, one-hour primetime special, "Change And Challenge: The Inauguration of Barack Obama" at 9/8c and a live webcast on CBSNews.com and CNET.com at 10:00 Pm, Et.

Joining Couric in Washington, D.C. will be Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer, Senior Political Correspondent Jeff Greenfield, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid, CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes and CBS News Correspondents Sharyl Attkisson, Jim Axelrod, Jeff Glor,...

St. Paul, Minn. -- When Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans three years ago Sunday, it wasn't just local and federal officials who learned they needed to do things differently.

Faced with one of the biggest stories of a generation in the aftermath of the hurricane and the levee break in New Orleans that killed at least 1,600 people, the news media discovered a number of things that they're now employing in the coverage of Hurricane Gustav.

Before Katrina, hurricanes -- even the big ones -- were considered stories that lasted only a day or two. There were the preparations and the hurricane hitting land, and then a brief period of coverage of the aftermath. But Katrina hit with such force and devastation that the TV networks weren't as prepared as they could have been for the enormity of the story, the requirements for keeping crews safe, fed and housed, and bringing video from the disaster region.

NEW YORK -- Larry King is staying at CNN for at least another few years.

King, 74, and CNN extended their contract through at least 2011. His talk show, always one of CNN's top-rated programs, has run since 1985. King's pact with the cable news network was set to run out in summer 2009.

The deal was completed within the past week or so. Sources said there are no major changes in the extension, which calls for Larry King Live to remain in the 9 p.m. slot on weeknights. King draws an average of 1 million viewers a night.

King's fate at CNN had never been in doubt until a report two weeks ago claimed that CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric might replace the veteran talk-show host at some point.

During last week's Radio-TV Correspondents Dinner in Washington, comedian Mo Rocca joked that Couric was "waiting for Larry to wander off."

King's new deal at CNN is said to have been done independently of the Couric rumors.

Those who say CBS anchor Katie Couric may not last in her job found additional ammunition in last week's ratings.

CBS Evening News With Katie Couric averaged 5.4 million viewers, according to data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. That was the lowest number recorded since Nielsen switched to people meters in 1987 and likely the lowest for an evening newscast since the early years. CBS' previous low of 5.5 million viewers was in September during Couric's weeklong series of reports from Iraq.

"Obviously we're frustrated by the ratings. We don't believe that the broadcast or Katie are getting the credit they deserve," CBS News senior vp Paul Friedman said. "It's a first-rate broadcast. Most people who watch it carefully inside and outside the broadcast will tell you that. She's doing a great job."

Friedman said the thing to do is to keep plugging away. Executive producer Rick Kaplan, who has for the past month or so been pulling morning duty as temporary executive producer of The Early Show, will return to CBS Evening News in about a month or so.

NEW YORK -- NBC won a summer week in the ratings race thanks to a double shot of opening-week NFL action, while The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric dropped to record-low ratings despite the fact that Couric spent the week on a high-profile trip to Iraq and Syria.

Official weekly averages from Nielsen Media Research won't be released until this morning pending final numbers for Fox's 23 minutes of NFL overrun Sunday, though they are not expected to change NBC's top standing in viewership and the adults 18-49 demographic.

It was the second time NBC won in the demo in three weeks, following a No. 1 finish from the season finale of America's Got Talent. NBC's victory in total viewers was the network's first since Jan. 1-7. It marks the first time a network other than CBS had won in seven weeks. NBC can thank the NFL for the boost, with Thursday's season opener and the Sunday Night Football season premiere finishing as the top two programs of the week in viewership and adults 18-49.

NBC was nowhere to be found on Monday, far behind the night's leader CBS that won with its lineup of comedies and dramas led by Two and a Half Men (9.1 million, 2.9 rating/7 share in adults 18-49) and CSI: Miami (8.8 million, 2.5/7). The few originals, ABC's Fat March (4.9 million, 1.9/5) and Dateline: NBC (4.3 million, 1.6/4) dwelled near the bottom.

It was all about CBS on Tuesday as well, with Big Brother (8 million, 3.3/9) delivering against NBC's The Biggest Loser (6.4 million, 2.4/6) and ABC's I-Caught (5 million, 1.7/4).

NEW YORK -- CBS News said Monday that CBS Evening News anchor/managing editor Katie Couric will headline its Election 2008 coverage.

Couric will anchor the political coverage not only on the CBS Evening News but also throughout the network in special programming. She also will anchor the Dec. 10 debate in Los Angeles among Democratic presidential candidates, the last sanctioned one before the primaries and caucuses.

Also taking key roles in the campaign coverage will be chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer and senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield. Schieffer will analyze the campaign and do reports for the network including Face the Nation, where he is the weekly moderator. Greenfield will do overall analytic pieces and big-picture stories, said CBS News senior vp Paul Friedman. National political correspondent Gloria Borger is leaving the network to pursue other opportunities.

Other correspondents receiving roles in covering the candidates will be Sharyl Attkisson, Jim Axelrod, Cynthia Bowers, Kelly Cobiella, Nancy Cordes, Byron Pitts, Tracy Smith, Hari Sreenivasan and Bill Whitaker.

NEW YORK -- CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves hit back at critics of CBS Evening News With Katie Couric, including former anchor Dan Rather, saying it is going to take time for his $15 million-a-year investment to show results.

Moonves, who spoke Tuesday at a Newhouse School of Public Communications forum with New Yorker writer Ken Auletta, denied rumors that CBS News will head in a different direction after the 2008 election.

"The stories of us throwing in the towel ... are not true," Moonves said. He said he was proud of the show and that he continues to have great faith in Couric. Couric's ratings have fallen to historic lows in the closely watched evening news ratings race during the past several weeks.

He said Couric should be given a break because she has been at CBS News for only nine months; it took Tom Brokaw years before he reached the top of the ratings for NBC Nightly News.

Moonves acknowledged that CBS had failed in its attempts to rebrand the show for a younger audience and said there are "a number of people who don't want their news from a woman."

He also blew off criticism from Rather, who said Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he felt the newscast wasn't going in the right direction.

2006-07 SEASON WRAP

Overview: Patterns, measurements define season

Ratings rerun: Fox, CBS on top

Thursday, Monday are battlegrounds

Chart: Final series ranks

Network news makes headlines

NEW YORK -- A year ago at CBS' upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall, newly crowned network star Katie Couric made a grand entrance amid hopes that her anchorship of the "CBS Evening News" would be a strong step forward for women as well as the boost that the third-place newscast would need to make the leap to first place.

It didn't work out that way.

In the year since the announcement, the hope has turned to the realization that the "CBS Evening News" isn't destined for first place anytime soon. But another newcomer to the evening news, ABC's Charles Gibson, has leaped into first place in recent months and is poised to overtake traditional leader Brian Williams in the next few months.

That has caused a lot of turmoil in the traditionally staid world of the network evening newscasts, with NBC and CBS showing their executive producers the door this spring and hard-luck ABC heading to the top with a traditional newscast and a familiar face. NBC has been unable to stem ABC's advances, while CBS stays in third place no matter what the network does.

It's quite a change from a year ago, when NBC still was riding high from its high-profile and award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina that gave Williams the big story he needed to help viewers put his predecessor Tom Brokaw firmly in the past. Williams and NBC also was the beneficiary of the strong transition plan the network had, something that neither ABC nor CBS had in place when they unexpectedly lost their anchors.

NEW YORK -- The CBS Evening News fell to historic lows in viewership last week, according to data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.

The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric averaged 6 million viewers for the week ending April 30, the lowest point since at least 1987, covering the tenures of Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer and Couric. It also was lower than Rather's period in the anchor chair during the height of the "memogate" scandal.

It was a week of lows, with NBC scraping the bottom in adults 25-54 with its lowest numbers in the demographic since at least 1987. ABC flirted with a record in adults 25-54 with its second-lowest on record, second only to Couric's first week as anchor.

But ABC won the week in viewership and adults 25-54, one of a recent string of victories against NBC in the evening news race. ABC World News With Charles Gibson averaged 8.1 million viewers and a 2.0 rating/9 share in the adults 25-54 demo.

CBS is expanding its presence on the mobile platform through a new partnership with Sprint.

Beginning Sunday, full-length on-demand episodes of Jericho and live nightly mobilecasts of CBS Evening News With Katie Couric will be among the content available through the Sprint TV platform.

"As we continue to expand the number of places that wireless customers can get CBS Mobile content, Sprint provides a terrific new platform on which CBS and our advertisers can connect with viewers and a new opportunity to learn how audiences engage with our content on this emerging programming medium," Cyriac Roeding, executive vp, CBS Mobile, CBS Interactive, said Friday.

Other content available through Sprint's mobile video service will include clips from the "CSI" franchise, Survivor, Late Show With David Letterman, Entertainment Tonight and classic clips from The Brady Bunch and I Love Lucy.

This latest partnership, which also enables CBS to sell advertising within its mobile programming, follows its previous mobile content partnerships with Verizon, Cingular and MediaFlo.

NEW YORK -- Rick Kaplan, the legendary producer and former president of CNN and MSNBC, will be named executive producer of the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric.

Sources said late Wednesday that Rome Hartman, who had been named producer of the broadcast in late 2005, would be replaced by Kaplan as early as today. Hartman, a former 60 Minutes producer and a favorite of CBS News president Sean McManus, will be reassigned to another high post at CBS News.

CBS News declined comment late Wednesday.

Sources said McManus made the decision and not Couric, who also is managing editor of the broadcast, though she was aware of it happening. The broadcast's third-place ranking in the ratings was a major factor in the decision, and the network wants a harder-edged, faster-paced newscast than has been seen in the six months since Couric took to the air.

The announcement marks the return to network television of one of its most accomplished producers.

NEW YORK -- He's plenty busy already, but neurosurgeon-medical reporter Sanjay Gupta is adding another job to his resume.

The five-year CNN veteran will contribute to the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" beginning early next year. Gupta's agreement with CBS is a lot like his colleague Anderson Cooper's deal; Gupta will remain with CNN and do up to 10 reports for CBS in 2007.

This doesn't affect the recent hiring of Jonathan LaPook, a New York-based physician who also covers medical issues for CBS Evening News. LaPook has what CBS News president Sean McManus calls the "day-to-day role," and Gupta will contribute several pieces from Atlanta and perhaps the field.

Gupta joined CNN as a medical correspondent in 2001 and became senior medical correspondent in 2004. He recently signed a three-year deal to remain at CNN as chief medical correspondent, where he hosts House Call on the weekends and contributes to CNN shows with analysis, reports and specials like his Emmy-winning Charity Hospital.

That's nothing to say of Gupta's career as a neurosurgeon, where he performs surgery and is associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.

NEW YORK -- CBS, ABC and Fox News said Monday they are sending their anchors to Amman, Jordan, to report from the city where President Bush will meet this week with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Jordan's King Abdullah.

NBC said Monday that it wasn't going to send anchor Brian Williams to the Mideast. NBC stirred its own controversy over the weekend by referring to the situation in Iraq as a "civil war," though other networks have yet to do that. For its part, the Bush administration told reporters on Monday that the Iraqi war had entered "a new phase characterized by an increase in sectarian violence," according to the Associated Press.

Charles Gibson will anchor ABC World News from Amman beginning Wednesday; so will Katie Couric, anchor of CBS Evening News. Gibson anchored from the Mideast during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in the summer, but Couric, who was working at CBS News but wasn't officially anchor yet, stayed home. This will be Couric's first overseas trip as anchor for CBS Evening News.

ABC News said Gibson also would report for other ABC shows and platforms including doing the World News Webcast there.

NEW YORK -- With five weeks in the new season already in the record books, ABC captured another victory in the adults 18-49 demographic with four of the top five shows in the demo, including top-rated Grey's Anatomy, and a 5% margin between it and second-place CBS and Fox.

That has all been done without Monday Night Football, which moved over to a record-breaking cable run on ESPN. Even without the "MNF" boost, ABC is up week-to-week in viewers and the demo and has been every week so far this season. CBS kept its own streak alive winning the week in viewership and adults 25-54.

Grey's was the week's top show in both viewers and the adults 18-49 demographic, according to data released Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research. The 9 p.m. Thursday drama averaged 22 million viewers and a 9.6 rating/23 share in adults 18-49, once again overpowering rival CSI (20.5 million, 6.9/16), which came in third for the week in both measures. ABC's Dancing With the Stars (21.2 million, 6.0/16) came in between Grey's and "CSI" in viewership while Desperate Housewives (19.7 million, 8.1/18) took second place in the demo.

Rounding out the top five in the demo was Lost (16.3 million, 6.6/16), while the top 10 included Game 2 of the World Series (18.2 million, 5.9/15), CSI: Miami (18.1 million, 5.8/15) and two NBC shows, Heroes (13 million, 5.7/13) and ER (13.7 million, 5.6/15). The 10th spot was held by Thursday's thrilling Game 7 of the St. Louis Cardinals-New York Mets NLCS, delivering 16.5 million viewers and a 5.4/15. That was ahead of Saturday's Game 1 of the World Series (12.8 million, 3.6/12), the lowest-rated Game 1 in World Series history but also such reliable performers as Survivor: Cook Islands (15 million, 5.3/14), Monday's Deal or No Deal (17.5 million, 5.2/14) and CSI: NY (16 million, 5.2/14).

The CW had brighter news with the move to Mondays of its comedy lineup, which had fallen back when they were running Sunday. America's Next Top Model was in second in the time period in women 18-34, while Friday Night SmackDown! tied for its largest adults 18-34 rating to date on the CW.

Meanwhile, ABC's World News won the week in the evening newscasts with a 2.3 rating in adults 25-54 to the 2.2 for NBC Nightly News and a 2.1 for the CBS Evening News. NBC still won the week in viewership, with 8.6 million viewers to ABC's 8.5 million and CBS' 7.5 million. It was the closest ABC had been to NBC in three months, and it was also the fourth week in a row that CBS had been in third place in viewership.

Weekly averages: ABC (11.2 million , 4.0/11); CBS (12.6 million, 3.8/10); Fox (11.9 million, 3.8/11); NBC (8.9 million3.2/9); the CW (3.6 million, 1.5/4).

NEW YORK -- After a month of hoopla and intense competition following the arrival of Katie Couric, the evening news race has settled back into a familiar pattern: NBC first, ABC second and CBS in third place. NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams won the week by a wide margin in viewers and tied ABC's World News With Charles Gibson in the demo while CBS Evening News With Katie Couric dropped to third place in both measures. Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday that NBC's newscast delivered 8.5 million viewers to ABC's 8 million and CBS' 7 million for the week ending Oct. 6. It was not only the most viewers NBC had averaged for a week since late August but also 114 wins in 118 weeks for the newscast. In the news demographic of adults 25-54, NBC and ABC tied with 2.2 ratings, though NBC's 2.71 million viewers was slightly higher than ABC's 2.68 million. CBS trailed with a 1.9 rating, equaling 2.34 million viewers in the demo, the lowest of Couric's tenure. Couric's first week averaged a 2.8 rating and had three weeks of either 2.2s or 2.1s until last week.

NEW YORK -- CBS Evening News With Katie Couric is getting an important endorsement from legendary newscaster Walter Cronkite, one of Katie Couric's predecessors in the anchor chair. The 89-year-old Cronkite said that he's a fan of her newscast. "It seems to me it's coming around," Cronkite said during the News & Documentary Emmy Awards ceremony Monday night in New York. "It's like any other brand-new program; it has to feel its way through, but I think it's doing quite well." Cronkite's newscast was known for its just-the-facts approach to the news and along with NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report set the tone for the evening news that exists to this day. Yet in her debut, Couric's approach to the newscast has been more featurey. The former Today co-anchor has been anything but shy about adapting the stolid newscast, introducing elements like Free Speech into the program.

NEW YORK -- After two weeks of victories for CBS, NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams returned to first place in viewership, though all three evening newscasts tied in the key news demographic. NBC Nightly News averaged 8.2 million viewers for the week ended Friday, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. That compares with 7.7 million for CBS Evening News With Katie Couric and 7.6 million viewers for ABC World News with Charles Gibson. NBC won the night all five days last week. All three newscasts finished the week with a 2.1 rating in the adults 25-54 demographic. Final numbers will come out today.

NEW YORK -- CBS Evening News With Katie Couric finished Friday with its second weekly win in the evening news race -- but by a razor-thin margin against NBC and ABC. CBS Evening News averaged 7.89 million viewers, only 60,000 viewers ahead of the 7.82 million for NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams and 7.5 million for ABC World News With Charles Gibson. That's a drop of 2.3 million viewers from the 10.2 million that CBS Evening News averaged last week.

NEW YORK -- The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric zoomed to the top of the evening-news ratings early last week, but its hold on the lead seemed shaky by the end of last week. CBS averaged 10.2 million viewers and a 2.8 rating in the adults 25-54 demographic for the week, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. Final numbers will be out today. That held good and bad news for CBS, which had been stuck in third place for more than a decade with Dan Rather and interim anchor Bob Schieffer. CBS was not only way ahead of its competitors this week, but it also was the first time that it had been No. 1 in viewership for a week since June 2001. Last week, NBC Nightly News averaged 7.1 million viewers and a 1.9 rating in the demo, compared with ABC's World News with 6.9 million viewers and a 1.9 rating as well. The declines were steep, with NBC losing 2.2 million viewers compared with the same week a year ago and ABC losing 2 million viewers in the same period.

Katie Couric kept CBS on top of the evening news race again Wednesday, her second night in the anchor's chair at CBS Evening News. The broadcast drew an average of 10.1 million viewers, a strong retention from the 13.6 million viewers who tuned in Tuesday for Couric's debut. CBS enjoyed a wide lead over ABC's World News Tonight (7.1 million) and NBC Nightly News (7 million). CBS also was No. 1 in the target adults 25-54 demo with a 2.7 rating, compared with a 2.1 for ABC and a 1.9 for NBC.

NEW YORK -- Katie Couric's inaugural newscast delivered big ratings Tuesday for CBS Evening News, but her boss isn't declaring the battle won yet. CBS Evening News With Katie Couric averaged 13.6 million viewers, according to preliminary estimates by Nielsen Media Research. It trampled over the other two newscasts, delivering more viewers than any CBS Evening News since Feb. 16, 1998. It was the largest margin of victory for CBS since at least 1993. NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams averaged 7.76 million viewers, while ABC's World News With Charles Gibson averaged 7.58 million viewers. While ABC's viewership appeared steady week-to-week, the NBC newscast was down about 10% from the previous week. By comparison, Tom Brokaw's last evening newscast drew 15.4 million viewers on Dec. 1, 2004.

NEW YORK - New Today co-host Meredith Vieira is thinking more about the daunting challenge of getting up at 3 a.m. every day than she is about filling for formidable pumps of her predecessor on NBC's top-rated morning show. Vieira and Today's Matt Lauer ran through a mock first half hour of a broadcast Thursday before they did a teleconference with NBC affiliates around noon and then had an informal Q&A session with reporters. NBC Universal chairman and CEO Bob Wright also stopped by for a few minutes to chat with Vieira, whose tenure on the show begins Wednesday. Vieira, who moves to NBC after nine years on ABC's The View, said she isn't thinking about the implications of replacing Katie Couric, the hugely popular anchor who left Today earlier this year to become anchor of CBS Evening News. But Vieira -- who was known on 'The View' for quick-thinking responses and also a willingness to talk about almost anything -- said she's planning to tone it down a bit for her new gig.

NEW YORK -- Katie Couric's debut Tuesday on the CBS Evening News brought the Tiffany Network an unaccustomed-to shade of gold, handily defeating its rivals and giving CBS its highest evening-news ratings since the 1998 Winter Olympics. The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric averaged a 9.1 rating/17 share in the nation's household metered markets, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by Nielsen Media Research. That was well above the 5.7/11 for ABC and the 5.3/10 for NBC on Tuesday, when both Charles Gibson and Brian Williams were in the anchor chair. It was much higher than CBS' previous metered-market average of 4.4/9 for the past four weeks. And it was the highest rating for the CBS Evening News since Feb. 23, 1998, during the Winter Olympics coverage from Nagano, Japan. Final ratings will be in later Wednesday.

NEW YORK -- Katie Couric's inaugural newscast delivered big ratings Tuesday for CBS Evening News, but her boss isn't declaring the battle won yet. CBS Evening News With Katie Couric averaged 13.6 million viewers, according to preliminary estimates by Nielsen Media Research. It trampled over the other two newscasts, delivering more viewers than any CBS Evening News since Feb. 16, 1998. It was the largest margin of victory for CBS since at least 1993. NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams averaged 7.76 million viewers, while ABC's World News With Charles Gibson averaged 7.58 million viewers. While ABC's viewership appeared steady week-to-week, the NBC newscast was down about 10% from the previous week. By comparison, Tom Brokaw's last evening newscast drew 15.4 million viewers on Dec. 1, 2004.

NEW YORK -- Katie Couric made TV history Tuesday night by anchoring CBS Evening News in what has been one of the most anticipated newscasts in recent history. In a bow to famous newscasters, Couric reviewed closings from "Good night, and good luck" (Edward R. Murrow) to "That's the way it is" (Walter Cronkite), even airing once again Dan Rather's ill-fated "Courage" and the closing words of fictional anchors Ted Baxter and Ron Burgundy. She said that all summer, people had been asking her about what she would say and that she had "wracked her brain" but said viewers could help her by sending some ideas. "Who knows, maybe one will actually stick," Couric said. "But for now all I've had to say is, I'm Katie Couric, thank you so much for watching and I hope to see you tomorrow night."...

NEW YORK -- 60 Minutes veteran correspondent Mike Wallace may have retired last March but that didn't stop him from scoring an exclusive interview Tuesday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And that fact wasn't lost on the controversial Iranian president, who halfway through the interview asked Wallace: "I thought you had retired." Wallace's interview will appear on the CBS Evening News on Thursday night and on Sunday's 60 Minutes. The 88-year-old Wallace, who has interviewed almost every notable person in his nearly 40 years on 60 Minutes, said Wednesday that he wasn't going to let a little matter such as retirement stop him from doing a story about one of the biggest gets these days. After getting word two weeks ago from CBS's liason in Tehran, Sia Zand, that Ahmadinejad would be willing to talk, Wallace hopped a plane to Paris and then Tehran with producer Bob Anderson and associate Producer Casey Morgan.

NEW YORK -- CBS Evening News With Katie Couric has taken its first concrete step away from the so-called "voice of God" anchor style, offering both familiar and unknown Americans the chance to sound off on issues that concern them. Free Speech will become a regular segment on Couric's newscast, which debuts Sept. 5. Contributors will range from nationally known faces to average people who have something to say about immigration, the war in Iraq or lighter fare like the death of good manners. The segment also will give a regular role on the broadcast to current anchor Bob Schieffer, who will head back to Washington after a year and a half stabilizing and growing the newscast. Schieffer also will offer occasional commentary in the vein of his Face the Nation end pieces, executive producer Rome Hartman said.

NEW YORK -- CBS News has hired away from NBC a producer who has worked closely with Katie Couric to redesign the look for the CBS Evening News when Couric starts on the air in September. Bob Peterson joins CBS News as creative director, effective immediately. CBS News said he will be responsible for the look and design of the network's news broadcasts in what it said would be "a new and unified presentation for CBS News programming." The first priority is "The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric," scheduled to debut in early September. CBS said Peterson will work with director Eric Shapiro on the newscast.