TVSquad

Long before ESPN was the worldwide leader in sports, ABC sportscaster and newsman Jim McKay was the voice of American sports. ABC sports legend Jim McKay died today at the age of 86; the cause of death was not revealed. In the annals of television history, Jim McKay is among the giants in sports broadcasting: a twelve-time Emmy winner, an iconic presence on The Wide World of Sports, the man who said the words, "the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat." He was the moderator of twelve Olympics and a broadcaster who gave the best he had in every television show in which he was involved, be it the Kentucky Derby, the British Open, or any of the other hundreds of events he covered.

If Jim McKay had just done that, he'd have a great legacy. However, when he was confronted with the task of anchoring the events that unfolded at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when the Israeli athletes were taken hostage by terrorist and killed in a commando raid, Jim McKay rose to the occasion.

For once the info coming from CBS News is not about whether Katie Couric's job is in jeopardy. Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer has decided not to retire after all; he's staying with CBS News indefinitely.

The veteran newsman, who'll be 72 this year, had announced his retirement. He was going to leave the Black Rock as of the January presidential inauguration. Now he's decided to postpone the rocking chair. According to TV Week, the network didn't have to twist his arm; the deal was easily and simply done. All Schieffer had to do was get his wife Pat's approval and he was able to tell CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus asked him not to step down as planned with the inauguration of a new president that he would remain.

They most prestigious award for excellence in broadcasting -- next to the Emmys -- were announced today. The 67th Annual Peabody Awards honored Mad Men, 30 Rock, Dexter, Project Runway, The Colbert Report -- all favorites here at TV Squad -- among others. To the Peabody Award voters, I say, "Good job."

The winners, chosen by the Peabody board -- which is part of the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication -- will receive the awards on June 16 at a luncheon at New York's Waldorf Astoria. NBC News anchorman Brian Williams will be the emcee.

Mike Wallace, the semi-retired 60 Minutes correspondent, underwent triple-bypass heart surgery over the weekend at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan.

The 89-year-old Wallace, the oldest of the 60 Minutes correspondents, is recovering nicely, according to a CBS News spokesperson. The spokesperson added that the Correspondent Emeritus was already taking his first steps just two days after undergoing the procedure. Man, this guy is tough! It is unknown at this time if the surgery was planned or done after a checkup revealed an issue.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Dan Rather said the word "tart," and suddenly everybody's talking about the evening news.
  
• Donald Trump's has a new reality show in the works, Lady or a Tramp.
  
• Are we being punished? Veronica Mars fans won't get a new season, but they might get a comic book instead.
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has just signed a new contract with the cable network, and this one is estimated to be worth $4 million dollars a year, a raise from the $2 million dollars a year he is getting under his current contract.

The Broadcasting & Cable article linked above also says that because Cooper is no longer available, producers of The Early Show are going to have to look elsewhere for a new host for the morning show. Though I never heard definitive word that Cooper was in line for the gig, just that the show was undergoing major changes.

Cooper hosts the nightly news show Anderson Cooper 360 and has started to also contribute to CBS' 60 Minutes. The new contract is a multi-year deal.

So readers...is he worth it?

[via TV Newser]

Katie Couric's first time behind the CBS Evening News anchor desk (actually, she seemed to be standing up a lot more than sitting down) garnered big ratings for CBS. According to Nielsen, she got a 9.1/17 rating, beating the other networks, and giving CBS it's highest ratings in that time slot since 1998.

But the question is: can she hold on to the viewers, or was this just a one time curiosity to see what she was like?

But it won't be free. CBS News has inked a deal with CustomFlix and Amazon.com that will allow Web surfers to compile either ten segments or 90 minutes of video onto a DVD for $24.95. These segments have been available to researchers in the past, but this is the first time they've been made public. However, don't expect free access to everything CBS News has ever covered. In fact, right now you can only order footage from as far back as 2000, and some footage will never be made available due to copyright restrictions. Footage going as far back as the 1950s will be made available in the future. Users can pick video from CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes, CBS News Sunday Morning, and various documentaries.

I don't think Dan Rather will be inviting Meredith Vieira to his Fourth of July barbecue.

After Rather's words yesterday about leaving CBS after 44 years, new Today Show host Vieira had this to say:

"It's kind of sad...no matter what, he put in many, many good years. It was just sort of tacky...and this is the guy who did in my husband."

Vieira's husband is Richard Cohen, who was a producer at CBS News during Rather's infamous on-air confrontation with George H.W. Bush (Bush confronted Rather about something Rather had said, and brought up the time Rather walked off the set when a tennis match ran long and the news was delayed). Rather was upset at what happened and it seems that Vieira partially blames Rather, saying "Richard sort of got the ax."

Two CBS News crew members covering the war in Iraq were killed on Monday during some of the worst violence in the country since the new government was sworn in. Cameraman Paul Douglas, soundman James Brolan, and an American soldier were killed when a car bomb exploded during a patrol of central Baghdad.

Also injured during the explosion was CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier. The 39-year-old newswoman was reported in critical condition at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad after going through two surgeries to remove shrapnel from her head. A spokesperson for the network says that Dozier still has several severe injuries to her lower body that needed to be taken care of. She has since been flown to Germany's Landsthul hospital for additional treatment.

Reports of journalist deaths and injuries in Iraq are not uncommon these days. Back at the beginning of the year Bob Woodruff, recently named co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight broadcast, and his cameraman were seriously injured when the vehicle they were riding in struck a roadside bomb.

More information about Dozier can be found at AOL News. Full coverage of the attack, with reflections by co-workers of the slain Douglas and Brolan and injured Dozier can be found at the CBS News website.

OK, maybe that's a little unfair to the interns at CBS. I apologize. But that's the first thing that came to mind when I read this story at The New York Observer about the CBS college interns helping the execs decide what direction the CBS Evening News should take. One of the suggestions is a younger anchorperson alongside Bob Schieffer. But they also suggested more international coverage, so good for them.

Readers, what do you think? Should CBS News try to skew younger? Should they replace Bob Schieffer and go with a different format? Is network news dead anyway? Leave your comments below.