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"It is restructuring just about all the talent of the information division," said a staff member of CBS. "It's really pretty epic."
At this point, it is the least well-kept secret of television, even if nothing has been announced officially yet. Numerous sources confirmed to CNN Business that Zirinsky was reorganizing CBS's morning show with Gayle King in the center, with the intention of making King's co-presenter Norah O Donnell attend the evening news.
Four other anchors are waiting to take on new tasks. Some of them still do not know very well what they are going to do.
Zirinsky's goal is to announce the reshuffling of talents in one go. But as plans have been leaked, the information division is holding its breath. And television veterans look at all this with a mixture of fear and skepticism.
The overriding goal: to release CBS News from a discouraging period of its history and reinvigorate the network's flagship news reports.
Chances it works: Everyone guesses.
Zirinsky refused to comment on this story. It is likely to announce changes next week, in anticipation of the annual event advertisers organized by CBS Corporation in mid-May, said two sources.
Given the uncertainty in the newsroom, some presenters do not yet know what their new start dates are.
Zirinsky's detractors say the story of the upheaval narratives is bad for morale.
But his critics appear to be outnumbered by his supporters, who claim to have inherited a broken news channel earlier this year and worked overtime to fix it.
"I think her intention is pretty clear: she tries to put people back to the places that suit them best," said one of the staff members.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely about their employer.
The morning and evening shows were therefore in transition – and ratings, already in third place behind NBC and ABC, were therefore fragile.
CBS News President David Rhodes added two new stars: he transferred political reporter John Dickerson from "Face the Nation" to the morning show, replacing Rose. And he promoted correspondent Bianna Golodryga as the fourth co-presenter.
Was the table too crowded? Did the actors work well together? Was Dickerson the right form of the morning? CBS executives and their rivals from other networks debated these issues while the producers of the morning show worried about the low ratings.
King, meanwhile, hinted that she might want to leave the morning show – a move that would have been an extra hit for the ratings.
But the last few months have been a serious test. She named Bill Owens as Fager's successor at "60 Minutes". She moved to renew King's contract and make other changes to revive the morning show. As usual, gossip columns and trade publications have closely followed the changing situation, leaving staff members feeling in a turmoil.
His first change to the morning show was awkward. Golodryga left one day and never came back – a consequence of Zirinsky's decision to make her leave the AM. change and offer him another position in the news division. Golodryga refused what would have been a sharp demotion and she left the information division abruptly. (Golodryga remains a contributor to CNN.)
And King stays around – that's the only thing that's known. King's best friend, Oprah Winfrey, even talked about it publicly in a recent interview. King has been on a roll, as far as bookings, his interviews with R. Kelly and other reporters. Zirinsky plans to continue building "CBS This Morning" around King and his forces.
That means moving O Donnell to the evening job, which she had been looking for for some time now, sources said. O Donnell did not comment publicly.
Zirinsky intends to replace Glor with O Donnell and transfer the "Evening News" to Washington, DC, where O Donnell's family resides. This will involve changes and other changes behind the scenes. And therefore, people who work on "Evening News" are comfortable.
At the daily planning meeting on Thursday at 2:30 pm, Glor acknowledged that staff were working in "extraordinary circumstances", with constant leaks about possible changes.
He thanked them and expressed his gratitude, according to a person in the room.
Glor is waiting to be rejected from the news, but it has not been told anything specific, according to two sources.
Olivia Metzger, Glor's agent, told CNN Business Thursday night: "Jeff makes sure that the Evening News team remains unified and that reports and reports are the most important and significant here and around the world, in the great tradition of CBS News. "
"All those who know Jeff know that he is the type of leader and person whose main concern has been and continues to be the well-being of his colleagues." He will continue to represent and treat all his entourage with the utmost respect, as he has always done, "she added.
As for O Donnell, she is under contract at the morning show until 2020 and she has no contract for the evening show, according to a source close to # 39; it.
She will be back on "CBS This Morning" on Friday.
In the coming weeks, viewers will see the redesign. Dickerson is likely to move to a new reporting role at "60 Minutes". Weekend presenter Anthony Mason and his correspondent Tony Dokoupil will join King on "CBS This Morning," three sources said.
But when? This is not clear. This has caused some people in the network to complain about the uncertainty.
"We are in uncertainty until management knows what it wants to do next," said a frustrated staff member.
But one of Zirinsky's supporters pointed out that these changes would normally take longer. "She's trying to spin an aircraft carrier in about five minutes."
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