Unhurried For A Reason

(Andrew Tyndall)

Why shouldn't they seem unhurried? They had more time! Back in 1968, CBS sold only six minutes of commercials during the half-hour newscast, leaving Cronkite just under 23 minutes of editorial content and just over 60 seconds to go in and out of commercial and to open the program and sign off: "That's the way it is." Not only did Cronkite's viewers have no remote controls at their fingertips with which to wander elsewhere, he was barely off screen long enough for them to hanker for other news content: None of the advertising interruptions lasted longer than a minute.

Compare that with Rather's contemporary task. [ED NOTE: Remember, this piece was written in '98.] CBS sells more than eight minutes of advertising to Madison Avenue and reserves another 40 seconds to promote its own programming. The longest commercial island lasts 130 seconds. Fully two minutes of the newscast is devoted to persuading viewers to stay loyal, with headlines detailing the day's top stories at the start of the half hour and teases for upcoming items before each commercial. That leaves only 19 minutes for editorial content.