Broadcast Veteran Heyward Named Chief of CBS News

Andrew Heyward, a longtime CBS News producer and executive, was named president of the division Monday, succeeding Eric Ober, who was forced out as part of the management upheaval that accompanied the network being acquired by Westinghouse Electric Corp.

The selection of Heyward, who had been executive producer of the “CBS Evening News With Dan Rather” and a CBS News vice president, was seen within the network as a move for both stability and growth. Ober had been linked to the unsuccessful pairing of Connie Chung and Dan Rather and to cost-cutting under former CBS owner Laurence Tisch.

Heyward, 45, who began his career at CBS News in 1981 after several years of producing local news in New York City, will face daunting problems in rebuilding the division.

The combination of CBS and Westinghouse stations offers possibilities for joint promotion and programming, but CBS News programs, like the network’s entertainment shows, have been hurt in the ratings by previous losses of some key affiliates.

“CBS This Morning” has been a distant third for many years, and sources speculate that Westinghouse may want to give an hour of the show back to local affiliates to program. “CBS Evening News” is in third place and, although Rather has a contract until 2000, CBS has no clear successor for his anchor spot. Even the venerable “60 Minutes” has suffered in the ratings and is considered vulnerable; NBC is expected to challenge it with a new Sunday night edition of “Dateline NBC” beginning this spring.

“There are no quick fixes for the problems here,” Heyward said in an interview Monday. “We’re going to look at every option in terms of programming.”

Money will be less an obstacle in seeking solutions than under Tisch, he said.

“We’ve been operating under severe financial pressures,” Heyward said. “We have new owners who know the value of news. I’m very anxious to explore ways that we can work with the Westinghouse stations, and I’m confident that CBS News will have the financial resources we need under the new management.”

“CBS This Morning” will be his first priority. “I’m not sure the new format [with a studio audience] works every day,” said Heyward, who added that he does not want to relinquish an hour of the two-hour morning show to local affiliates.

Heyward praised Rather as “one of the greatest assets of CBS News” and said that he will remain the sole anchor of the evening newscast. But he acknowledged that, apart from the correspondents on “60 Minutes,” CBS has few star anchors who could succeed Rather when he retires.

“We have not done a good job of identifying the next generation of anchors,” Heyward said.

The new CBS News chief declined to comment on industry speculation that CBS might try to recruit Diane Sawyer from ABC or designate Ed Bradley as Rather’s successor. “We’re going to be looking inside and outside CBS News for the next generation of anchors,” he said.

Westinghouse chairman Michael Jordan said recently that he wants CBS News to expand its programming. Developing a new newsmagazine “is a priority,” said Heyward, who developed and launched CBS’ successful “48 Hours” in 1988.

ABC and NBC recently unveiled separate plans to develop 24-hour-a-day news channels to challenge CNN, and Heyward said CBS is interested too, adding, however, that “we don’t have an immediate plan to announce a channel.”

Heyward’s post as executive producer of “CBS Evening News” is expected to be filled by either Susan Zirinsky or Jeff Fager, both producers at the network.