Now that I'm no longer running RatherBiased.com, I don't watch the "CBS Evening News" or any other "early prime" newscast. Apparently I'm not alone. With Bob Schieffer in the anchor's chair, the ratings of "Evening" are stagnant.
That's kind of too bad because the format of the show is definitely better and arguably less biased (I haven't watched it enough to say definitively). By all accounts, Schieffer seems to be a nice guy, but he's too conventional and never has been known as a sharp analyst. No matter what format CBS puts him in, it's hard to see him winning over new or former viewers. Everyone in the TV biz seems to have forgotten that the only reason Schieffer managed to get himself out of third-place in the Sunday show derby was because George Stephanopolous is so terrible.
There also don't seem to be any real structural changes made at CBS News since Rather's ouster. In the absence of that, I don't see how they can win over viewers who were offended at the CBS's record of unfairness.
