Pairing of Chung and Rather on the Brink? : Television: CBS’ dual-anchoring isn’t working, and the newsman has told executives that changes need to be made, sources say.

Nearly two years after Dan Rather and Connie Chung made front-page headlines announcing their dual-anchor roles on the “CBS Evening News,” the pairing is under so much pressure that some within the network say it cannot survive.

The newscast has been in third place in the Nielsen ratings for the past two months. A rising chorus of critics, including the network’s Andy Rooney, is saying that, despite the efforts of Chung and Rather, the dual-anchoring is not working, with Chung under particular fire--unfairly, her supporters say--for her hard-news reporting.

At the same time, the network’s decision to send Chung to cover the Oklahoma City bombing for the first four days of the story--while a vacationing Rather was calling in from Texas the first day, ready to charter a plane to Oklahoma--angered Rather, sources close to him say, and caused him to question his longtime publicly stated support for the dual-anchor arrangement.

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According to sources, Rather has told CBS executives that he cannot continue on the same basis and that changes need to be made on the newscast.

“I want to be in a situation where I can do my best work,” Rather said in an interview. “Discussions about how that can be arrived at are best left in private.”

CBS executives, sources say, face a real dilemma in the Rather-Chung pairing. “They’ve got a real problem on their hands,” said one executive with knowledge of the discussions. “The dual-anchoring is not working. They’re getting bad reviews and bad ratings--you can’t survive both in television for very long. But, having touted the pairing so highly, they don’t want to admit they’ve made a mistake. And if they do admit it’s not working, what alternative do they have that will guarantee them better ratings?”

Complicating matters for CBS is the renewal of Chung’s prime-time newsmagazine, “Eye to Eye,” for the fall season. “Eye to Eye” has fared poorly in the ratings in a very difficult time-slot opposite NBC’s “Seinfeld,” but it makes money for the network and CBS News president Eric Ober is said to be lobbying hard for the renewal of all three CBS newsmagazines: “60 Minutes,” “Eye to Eye” and “48 Hours” (which is anchored by Rather).

Ober, who was traveling in Europe for the network’s coverage of V-E anniversary celebrations, was unavailable for comment. But he has backed the Chung-Rather pairing in the past and continues to do so, sources say. (CBS praised Chung’s reporting from Oklahoma City in a statement, and when Rooney--first on the Don Imus radio show and later in an interview on ABC’s “PrimeTime Live”--said the “Evening News” pairing isn’t working, a CBS News spokesperson said, “CBS disagrees.”)

But with Rather expressing concerns about editorial decisions, Chung lobbying to stay on as co-anchor, and several recent negative reviews calling for an end to the on-air marriage, sources say CBS management is worried.

“CBS has so many problems with their prime-time entertainment schedule that the affiliate stations are not yet clamoring for changes on the ‘CBS Evening News,’ ” said one source. “But CBS executives are concerned. I think they’ll take a reading from the affiliates (at the upcoming affiliates convention at the end of May) and then perhaps make some changes this summer.”

Chung said she favors continuing the dual-anchoring. “I think it’s working, and CBS management is very supportive of it,” she said in an interview Saturday. “Dan and I have a good relationship. I believe the newscast has improved in content. When you look at the problems CBS is having overall, it’s expected that we would have to be leaping giant hurdles to be making great strides in the ratings.”

CBS’ entire schedule has dropped in the ratings--even late-night champion David Letterman is down--and the “CBS Evening News” has suffered from the recent switch of affiliates in several markets.

Rather emphasized that he has a good relationship with Chung--a point echoed by several network sources. “I respect Connie personally and professionally,” Rather said. But he acknowledged that news executives’ recent decision on Oklahoma City had disturbed him.

“I accepted their decision--it’s their call to make the assignments. But I was and am disappointed,” he said. “They shouldn’t want me in this job if I didn’t want to be in Oklahoma City.”

Chung has been pressing to do more major, hard-news stories on the newscast, particularly since the controversy over her interview on “Eye to Eye” with the mother of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

“I have consistently said that I want to cover important stories for the ‘Evening News’ and for ‘Eye to Eye,’ ” Chung said.

The network’s decision to send Chung alone to Oklahoma City, sources say, fueled Rather’s concern that CBS executives were more concerned about “rehabilitating” Chung’s image than covering the story.

If CBS decides to make a change, what options does it have?

The network could return the newscast to a single anchor in Rather, which Rather is said to want. CBS could make Chung the sole anchor, but her ratings draw in that solo role is unproven. It could unseat both of them but, apart from “60 Minutes’ ” Ed Bradley and correspondent John Roberts, who recently appeared as a substitute anchor, names of likely replacements within CBS are few. Rather has a multimillion-dollar contract until the year 2000; Chung’s multimillion-dollar contract reportedly is up for renewal at the end of next year.

One other possibility would be to continue the co-anchoring duties, with Rather taking the lead on breaking news stories. But it’s anyone’s guess whether Chung would accept such a role.

“I wouldn’t want to be making this decision,” said one source.