CBS Brings Up the Rear in Gulf Coverage : Television: Cost-cutting measures have put the network under fire in the ratings war, and anchor Dan Rather is taking the heat--deservedly or not.

In what one TV executive calls “the Super Bowl of news”--the Persian Gulf War--the image of CBS News is taking some pounding.

The news organization that pioneered wartime broadcast reporting with Edward R. Murrow during World War II has been criticized for some of its coverage and is consistently drawing fewer viewers than rivals ABC and NBC. During the first days of the war, it even came close to being outranked by Cable News Network, which can only be seen in 61% of the country.

According to sources at the network, some CBS Inc. executives are blaming Dan Rather for the network’s performance, and have raised the possibility of replacing him as anchor or giving him a co-anchor. (Connie Chung, who is a substitute anchor for Rather and hosts prime-time interview specials, is one name that is mentioned as a possible co-anchor.)

Other observers say that it is not fair to blame Rather for problems that may be the result of cost-cutting under CBS chairman Laurence Tisch.

“You can’t hold Dan Rather personally responsible for the fact that CBS News had fewer resources,” said Ed Joyce, a former president of CBS News. “The Tiffany network looked like it was being outgunned by CNN.”

Although CBS officials said that they have been spending as much to cover the Gulf story as the other networks, they have about 40 staffers deployed there while ABC and NBC each has about 100. CNN has about 130.

“It’s a very depressing time here,” said a CBS employee who asked not to be identified by name. “We’re losing viewers, but nobody seems quite sure what to do about it. We’re at war with ourselves trying to figure out what to do.”

Tom Bettag, executive producer of the “CBS Evening News,” declined to discuss the situation. “I’ve told my staff that this is no time to be caught up in internal bickering,” Bettag said in an interview. “We’re working 20 hours a day, and we’re looking for four of our best journalists (correspondent Bob Simon and his crew have been missing in the Middle East since Jan. 21). Our commitment is to cover this war the best way we can.”

All three broadcast networks had technical difficulties getting their signals out of Baghdad on the first night of the war, with many affiliates electing to carry CNN instead. But CBS, in particular, was cited by reviewers for its slow start in the coverage.

CBS-affiliate WAGA-TV in Atlanta, for example, switched from CNN’s live coverage of bombs dropping in Baghdad back to Rather, who was still saying that the reports of bombing were not yet confirmed.

Rather had scored a beat before the war with an interview with Iraq President Saddam Hussein, but his heated delivery and mannerisms as anchor--saluting the troops at one point on the air, emphasizing that CBS is viewers’ reliable source of news--are said by his detractors to be making some viewers uncomfortable during the Gulf crisis.

“Dan is a great reporter, but I think that Peter (Jennings) and Tom (Brokaw) are more at ease with the kind of live, play-by-play coverage we’ve all been doing during the Gulf War,” contended Steve Friedman, executive producer of “NBC Nightly News.” “Still, it’s not Rather’s fault that CBS seems to be alternating between kinds of coverage. Sometimes they seem to be trying to out-CNN CNN; other times, they’re treating the story like election night, bringing on their stars like Mike Wallace and Walter Cronkite with Rather to talk about what’s going on.”

Rather, who did not return a reporter’s phone calls, has two more years to go on his contract, and sources said that the network would have to pay him $4 million for each year if he were replaced as anchor. He is also said to have veto power over a possible co-anchor.

In any case, CBS has no clear successor to Rather, who, despite the recent criticism, rates high with viewers in terms of recognition, reporting and other skills.

Over the past year, NBC and CBS have been in close competition for runner-up spot behind ABC in the evening newscast ratings, with CBS usually winning. But during the past two weeks, the “CBS Evening News” had an average audience of 9.6 million homes, compared to 10.4 million for NBC and 12.1 million for ABC.

CNN’s ratings have dropped from the beginning of the war--its coverage on the first day, when it had the only live reports from Baghdad, earned the network its first prime-time victory against the broadcast networks in homes where all four can be seen--but they are still four times higher than usual. CNN is now averaging 4 million homes in prime time, compared to 1 million last December.