CBS taps Cheatwood VP
Exec to handle news consulting duties
Cheatwood, the station manager at CBS' Philadelphia outlet KYW since 1998, has also been named news director at New York's WCBS. Station group prexy John Severino made the announcement Thursday.
Assuming his new duties on April 3, Cheatwood will handle news consulting duties as requested by individual stations.
New life hoped for
The move is seen as a way for the CBS stations to cut spending by replacing outside consultant firms. By appointing Cheatwood to a groupwide news role, CBS is hoping to shake some new life into its local news ratings.
Cheatwood blames the CBS stations' ratings woes on a historically weak promotional platform.
"In the past, network prime hasn't been at its strongest, there hasn't been a lot of strength in the syndicated shows the stations have owned, so promotion has been a real problem," he said.
Initially, the exec -- who will focus mostly on WCBS, KYW and Los Angeles' KCBS -- hopes to forge more cooperation between the stations.
Nix to Chicago
One station Cheatwood won't be working with is WBBM Chicago, where anchor Carol Marin recently launched a high-profile, no-frills late newscast.
Marin, then a lead anchor at NBC's WMAQ, made headlines in 1997 when she refused to appear alongside Springer. Cheatwood was WMAQ's vice president of news and creative services at the time.
"I've been given assurances, which were repeated again today, that whatever his role at the other CBS O-and-Os, he will not have a role in Chicago," Marin said.
Ratings monster
Cheatwood is also well-known for turning Miami's WSVN into a ratings monster with a seven-hour daily dose of fast-paced, tabloidish newscasts. Along with WSVN, the exec also oversaw the news and promo departments at Boston's WHDH as senior vice president of the Sunbeam Television Corp. from 1991 to 1997.
Most recently, Cheatwood was criticized after KYW allowed advertisers to sponsor some feature reports.
The exec said he's been handed an unfair rep, however, and notes he's helped KYW grow in four consecutive ratings books by developing a newscast with less gratuitous coverage of crime.
"I think a lot of the controversy that's been associated has come because oftentimes stories didn't have the proper context," Cheatwood said. "The people who know me know that."
One local news vet who's followed Cheatwood's career closely said the exec probably has gotten slapped with more criticism than he deserves.
At WCBS, the news director position has been vacant since Bill Carey left in November. The station has been averaging a 5.7 rating and 10 share at 11 p.m. during the first three weeks of February sweeps, ranking it fourth in the time period.
(Josef Adalian and Paula Bernstein contributed to this report.)
