Can Charlie Rose save CBS’s “The Early Show?” The veteran newsman and PBS talk- show host’s name has been added to the short list of newscasters being considered to relaunch the poorly rated morning program.
“They want the show to be politically oriented as they head into the 2012 election cycle,” a source said. “It will be a similar format to MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’ ”
TV insiders have been buzzing about an impending “Early Show” shake-up since CBS hired “Morning Joe” creator and executive producer Chris Licht from MSNBC to be vice president for programming. Many speculated after his departure in May that he would attempt to bring “Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski with him to CBS, to relaunch “Early Show” with a hard-news format and fewer lifestyle and cooking segments. But both Scarborough and Brzezinski are committed to their MSNBC contracts.
Sources say Licht has tapped his vast Rolodex to court a number of TV personalities, including CNN’s Erin Burnett and Ali Velshi. “They are casting their net wide,” an insider told us. Burnett declined an offer to host “Early Show” to join CNN, where she’s launching a 7 p.m. show on Monday. Rose, 69, is the newest name to be brought into the debate.
“The Early Show” — with anchors Marysol Castro, Chris Wragge, Erica Hill and Jeff Glor — still lags far behind its broadcast competitors, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “The Today Show.” “Early Show” averaged 2.45 million viewers the week of Sept. 19, behind 5.24 million at “Today” and 4.84 million at “GMA.”
Sources say CBS is so “desperate” to raise the morning show’s ratings that it’s trying “the set-swap trick,” moving the show from its current Fifth Avenue studio to the network’s West 57th Street broadcast headquarters.
A network rep said, “CBS News declines to comment on rumor and speculation.” Rose’s rep didn’t get back to us.