Opinion pieces cut back by CBS

There will be a little less “Free Speech” and more news on Katie Couric’s “CBS Evening News.”

The controversial opinion segment will be cut back to a couple of times a week, sometimes less, and feature more people whose opinions aren’t already well known, the broadcast’s executive producer said Monday. The cutback was first reported in the Washington Post.

It was the most experimental segment on Couric’s broadcast, currently behind NBC and ABC in the ratings.

“We did learn as we went along that some worked better than others, although I found most of them quite interesting,” said executive producer Rome Hartman. “The ones that we were giving a platform to somebody who already had one worked less well.”