‘60 Minutes’ spinoff axed

CBS announced Wednesday that it is canceling “60 Minutes Wednesday,” a spinoff of its venerable Sunday night newsmagazine that ignited a crisis at the network after relying on unsubstantiated documents for a story last fall about President Bush’s service in the National Guard.

CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves said the decision to drop the program had nothing to do with the political storm surrounding the Sept. 8 broadcast of a report by Dan Rather alleging that Bush got preferential treatment during his Vietnam-era stint with the Texas Air National Guard. The network later apologized for the story, saying it could not authenticate the documents it had cited.

But Moonves said he was concerned that the newsmagazine had older viewers -- an undesirable demographic for advertisers -- and had dropped 14% in its overall ratings this season to date.

“It was the oldest-skewing show on the schedule,” Moonves told reporters at an early morning breakfast briefing at CBS’ Manhattan headquarters, where he unveiled the network’s prime-time lineup for the fall.

“If ’60 Minutes Wednesday’ was a 10 rating, it would be on the air,” he added. “It was a ratings issue and not a content issue at all, not even in the slightest.”

Executive Producer Jeffrey Fager, who joined the show after the controversy, said that while the furor over the story about Bush’s military service took its toll on the broadcast, he believes it was ultimately hurt by a dwindling interest in prime-time news programs.

“It’s a sad day, but it’s been a really hard battle trying to keep the numbers up,” said Fager, who has produced both nights of the newsmagazine since January, when “60 Minutes Wednesday” executive producer Josh Howard was forced to leave.

He called the cancellation “understandable” because of the ratings, but expressed sorrow to see the six-year program come to a close, especially after weathering the recent rocky months.

“It was a tough period to get through, and very difficult, but the staff did an amazing job,” he said.

Rather, who has reported for both editions of “60 Minutes” since stepping down as the evening news anchor in March, will remain a contributor to the Sunday-night program, Moonves said.

“Exactly what his role is going to be, how much he’s going to do, it’s really premature,” he said.

The program’s cancellation caps a tumultuous eight months for the news division. Within minutes of the Sept. 8 broadcast, critics posted messages on political websites charging that the network relied on forged documents.

After initially defending the story, CBS changed course 12 days later. Rather apologized for the flawed reporting during a broadcast of the “CBS Evening News,” calling it “a mistake.”

An independent panel commissioned by CBS did not determine the veracity of the letters -- purportedly written by Bush’s former commander about preferential treatment given to the young pilot -- but concluded that the reporting did not meet the network’s standards.

The controversy threatened to tarnish CBS’ historic reputation as a news leader and taint Rather’s legacy in his waning days as the face of CBS News.

In the searing fallout, the segment’s producer, Mary Mapes, was fired and three executives were forced to resign. Rather departed as anchor of the evening news March 9, a year short of his 25th anniversary on the broadcast.

In a bittersweet coda, Rather and Mapes won a Peabody Award last month for a “60 Minutes Wednesday” piece they did last April on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq. They were presented the award in a ceremony in New York on Monday.

“It’s an irony,” Fager said. “We were really proud of this broadcast. It accomplished an enormous amount.”

“60 Minutes Wednesday” will continue through the summer, and then will be replaced by two comedies -- “Still Standing” and “Yes, Dear” -- a move Moonves said was intended to help build an audience for a new 9 p.m. drama called “Criminal Minds,” about FBI profilers.

Moonves said Wednesday he did not know if the cancellation of the newsmagazine would cause any layoffs, adding that he hopes to reassign many of the correspondents and crew to the Sunday night program and other parts of the news division.

“We’re seeing who on-camera, behind the camera, fits into either ’60 Minutes’ Sunday or the rest of the news organization,” he said. “We’re hoping to incorporate as many people as we can.”

The network chairman also suggested that CBS may take longer than it originally planned to settle on a permanent replacement for Rather. After the anchor’s departure from the evening news, Moonves expressed a need to rethink the newscast’s format, a process expected to be completed by the end of the summer.

But Moonves said Wednesday that he does not have a timeframe for developing a new incarnation of the program.

“We’re looking at all sorts of things,” said the chairman, who would not confirm whether he is still considering a multi-anchor format.

“You know what, this is a tough nut to crack, it really is. We’re trying to change the world and it’s not easy.”

He expressed pleasure with the performance of Bob Schieffer, a veteran Washington correspondent and anchor of Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” who has served as the newscast’s interim anchor since March.

“Bob has added a real stability to the newscast,” he said. “I think his style is terrific. He’s a pro. We like having him there. It makes making a decision very quickly not as necessary.”

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