CBS Replaces Producer of ‘Evening News’

The executive producer of Dan Rather’s slumping “CBS Evening News” was replaced today, a day after Nielsen ratings showed the program running third for the fourth consecutive week.

The replacement of Tom Bettag was the second major shake-up in the news division since August, when CBS News President David Burke was replaced by Eric Ober, former president of CBS’ television stations division.

Bettag, who has held the job since 1986, will be succeeded by Erik Sorenson, now executive producer of “CBS This Morning.” That show has consistently been third in morning show ratings.

Despite the change of executive producers on Rather’s once-dominant newscast, a co-anchor will not be added to the program, CBS said.

One published report had said Lesley Stahl or Connie Chung were among the possible candidates to co-anchor the newscast.

Bettag’s future plans were not immediately known.

CBS spokesman Tom Goodman said the move, which is effective today, was made because “we believed it simply was time to make a change.”

He declined to elaborate.

Sorenson, whose CBS career began in 1980 at the network’s WBBM-TV in Chicago, was vice president and general manager of CBS-owned KCBS-TV in Los Angeles before being named to run “CBS This Morning” in October 1989.