CBS reportedly shakes up Couric team

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- CBS News has become the latest network to shake up management of its evening news broadcast, bringing in a new producer to try to turn around disappointing ratings, according to a published report.

The New York Times reports that Rick Kaplan, a former executive at cable news networks CNN and MSNBC, will replace Rome Hartman, the executive producer of the "Evening News with Katie Couric." The paper cited unidentified people who were informed of the pending move.

Katie Couric

The Times said the move follows weak ratings in recent weeks, when the newscast had fallen short of the audience totals achieved this time last year by Bob Schieffer, the anchor who Couric replaced. CBS (Charts) executives had expected the program to be more competitive.

While Couric initially scored strong viewership after she took over the anchor duties in September, the show soon fell back into last place among the three network evening news broadcasts.

The paper said that Hartman was informed of the move after Wednesday evening's broadcast, and that several staff members were also told that Kaplan would become the executive producer, although the timing of the move was not yet known.

Kaplan was executive producer of ABC News' nightly newscast, as well as at its "Nightline" late-night news program before leaving the broadcast unit of media conglomerate Walt Disney (Charts) to join CNN in 1997.

He became the president of the cable news channel's U.S. operation but left the network in 2000 after a ratings decline. CNN and CNNMoney.com are both units of Time Warner (Charts).

Kaplan was named the president of rival cable news network MSNBC in 2004. MSNBC is a joint venture between General Electric (Charts) unit NBC Universal and software giant Microsoft (Charts).

While at MSNBC, Kaplan helped create that network's top show, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," and he reportedly established a good working relationship with Couric, who was then the anchor at the news division's most profitable show, "Today." But the paper said Kaplan again fell victim to disappointing ratings and left in 2006.

This is not the only shakeup among evening news programs. Alexandra Wallace on Monday was named executive producer of "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," replacing John Reiss, who had held that post since June 2005.

The Times reported that ABC's evening newscast recently moved past NBC into first place in the monthly ratings for the first time in 11 months, although NBC said that it had won the quarterly ratings race every period under Reiss' tenure.

The paper said Hartman, an award-winning producer for "60 Minutes" before he joined the evening news in late 2005, is expected to be asked to stay on CBS News in another capacity.

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