Talking about TV morning news

Air Date: December 2, 2011

Hour 1

A few weeks ago CBS announced they were reformatting their morning news show and had hired Charlie Rose and Gayle King to co-anchor. The redesigned Early Show will focus more on serious news than its network competitors The Today Show and Good Morning America. For some time, critics of morning news have complained that the network shows have become too tabloid in style covering stories that are light and fluffy. And competition from cable shows like Morning Joe, Fox and Friends and CNN’s American Morning have been a challenge for the networks. Will CBS’s risky move work? Who watches morning news shows, are they completely personality driven and why are they so profitable for the networks? We’ll ask our guests STEPHEN BATTAGLIO, author of “From Yesterday to Today: Six Decades of America’s Favorite Morning Show” and business editor at TV Guide Magazine, and ANDREW TYNDALL of the Tyndall Report.

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[audio: 120211_100630.mp3]

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