Kim Harvey will oversee “CBS Evening News” as its next executive producer, a switch that could augur new changes for the venerable program after it lost viewers while experimenting with an unorthodox format.
“Kim brings a sharp news sense and terrific track record of producing from across the broadcast and cable networks. She is a well respected newsroom leader and her relationships with our on-air talent, producers and reporters run deep,” said Tom Cibrowski, president of CBS News. “Her career at the ‘CBS Evening News’ makes her the ideal candidate and I’m pleased to continue working with her on showcasing our extraordinary reporting and storytelling every night.”
She is just the second woman to lead the long-running show, following Patricia Shevlin, who led “Evening News” for a three-year period starting in 2011 before moving to “60 Minutes.”
Harvey replaces Guy Campanile, a veteran “60 Minutes” producer who was tasked with overhauling “Evening News” with a two-anchor format and a focus on enterprise reporting that has spurred a noticeable viewer exodus from the program. Campanile was acting on a concept designed in part by senior executives who are no longer with CBS News, who hoped to offer an alternative to breezier — and more highly rated — evening news broadcasts on NBC and ABC. Campanile has returned to his old stomping grounds.
“CBS Evening News” remains one of the best-known offerings from the Paramount Skydance-owned network, with a storied history that reaches back to Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite. The current version of the show gives more of a spotlight to the reporters around the globe who help put it together — even letting them surface before commercial breaks to tell viewers to stay tuned for their coming stories. Many stories have CBS News reporters holding forth from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri or spots from around the globe, rather than well-worn perches in front of the White House or the U.S. Capitol.
With Harvey’s arrival, executives appear poised to experiment the current format, which has relies on John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois delivering news side by side.
A person familiar with the matter suggests viewers will in weeks to come see a more frequent reliance on one of the anchors being out on the road at major, breaking events. Just last week, Dickerson was on the ground in Alaska as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met to discuss Russia’s ongoing battle with Ukraine. Making use of both anchors in such fashion would put an authoritative person in the field and the studio, this person suggested, while giving the newscast the ability to deliver breaking news at the top of the broadcast.
Harvey joined CBS News in 2017, and has worked at “Evening News” during her entire tenure. She has worked as a producer, senior producer and senior broadcast producer, and has worked with nearly every CBS News national correspondent, in addition to anchors including Norah O’Donnell and Jeff Glor. She also spent 16 years in editorial and production at leading cable news networks. She helped launch “The Rachel Maddow Show” at MSNBC” and also worked with host Chris Hayes. She worked with Greta van Susteren and Paula Zahn at CNN, and with Bill O’Reilly at Fox News Channel.
Harvey has a B.A. in Journalism from Ithaca College.
“It’s a great honor to be entrusted with this role after nearly a decade working at the ‘Evening News,’ beginning as a producer,” Harvey said in a statement. “I have great respect and admiration for those who steered this broadcast before me, and I am grateful to Tom and the team for their support. I look forward to leading our incredible group of journalists as we deliver the latest news, original reporting and memorable stories to our audience every night.”
