CBS plans show on Dan Rather

CBS News has scheduled a prime-time salute to Dan Rather, with the newsman talking about what it was like to leave as “CBS Evening News” anchor after a quarter-century and his plans for the future.

The special, “Dan Rather: A Reporter Remembers,” didn’t exactly get a plum time slot: CBS will air it at 9 p.m. on Sept. 1, the Friday before Labor Day weekend. CBS said it wanted to get the special on the air before Katie Couric’s debut as evening-news anchor on Sept. 5.

CBS promised the special as a good-faith gesture to Rather when it announced in June that he would be leaving. It incorporates material from a prime-time Rather special that ran shortly after he stepped down as anchor in March 2005, but with a fresh interview. Rather is joining HDNet, a small network for owners of high-definition sets, to do a news show this fall.