"CBS This Morning" celebrates 1,000th broadcast milestone
"CBS This Morning" celebrated its 1,000th broadcast milestone Friday, Oct. 30, nearly four years after its launch.
Co-hosts Charlie Rose, Norah O'Donnell and Gayle King took a moment to reflect on the show's journey and success.
"Two people alongside me who know and understand news and the world around them -- you put that together with some sense of passion and focus and you end up with a program that's very, very different," Rose said in an interview CBS News' digital network, CBSN. "We did not set out to duplicate anybody or be different from anybody -- we set out to paint a new canvas for the morning."
"There's not a day that goes by for any of us that we walk down the street and somebody doesn't say, 'I used to watch fill-in-the-blank- and now I watch you guys,'" said King.
"We want to showcase the news on this show and we want to showcase the great CBS correspondents that are fabulous story tellers, but at the same time, we have a really good time," said O'Donnell. "And I think probably what a lot of people don't know about us is -- the show's over and three of us end up sitting in here or go off to the side and have a conversation."
Since launching in January 9, 2012, "CBS This Morning" has brought something entirely different to morning television. Sticking to its mantra -- "the news is back in the morning" -- the co-hosts have reported on breaking news, discussed current issues and engaged in smart, insightful conversations with CBS News' global network of correspondents and guests at the distinctive circular anchor table.
But the show was met with some initial skepticism.
"I remember so vividly when we started, critics and some haters saying it's audacious and a very intriguing idea," said King. "And I think we've delivered on being audacious and intriguing and I don't think either one of those are a bad thing."
After the 1,000th broadcast, executive producer Chris Licht expressed his gratitude, standing alongside the co-hosts, surrounded by the "CBS This Morning" staff in Studio 57, where the show broadcasts every morning.
"The thing that strikes me the most is just the number of people that have been here since the beginning, and the number of people who believed in what we were trying to do, then actually made it happen -- people in the control room, the floor, editing -- all of these people and all of CBS News that supported us that got us to this place," Licht said.
Of all the show's accomplishments, Licht recalled "one moment where I realized where we had sort of made it" -- when the show was the first to debut Rose's interview with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The news team wrapped up celebrations with cake adorning a photo of the co-hosts at the anchor desk, and a champagne toast by stage manager Tony Mirante.
"To all of you," Mirante said.
The broadcast has featured nearly 7,600 live and taped interviews since it began, hosting an array of guests from politicians, pop stars, authors, athletes, to world leaders -- including President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Stephen King, Jon Stewart, Mick Jagger, and the U.S. women's soccer team.
"CBS This Morning" attracted the network's largest overall morning news audience in the time period in 21 years, according to Nielson, and is the only network morning news program to post year-to-year gains among viewers.
Distinguished guests including Oprah Winfrey, Usher offered their congratulations and many have also taken to Twitter to offer their congratulations, making #newsisback trending on Twitter.
Additional reporting by Alex Simons.