CBS SEES HISTORIC CHANCE TO RESHAPE NETWORK NEWS.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

Insisting that ``it would be inappropriate to reveal what we're doing (to reinvent 'The CBS Evening News'),'' CBS chairman/Viacom co-president Les Moonves suggested that the network was examining the possibility of a multiple-anchor format.

``There aren't a lot of great people out there (capable of carrying a newscast solo). Maybe it isn't a single guy or lady that you're looking for,'' Moonves said, speaking at the Television Critics Association's semiannual press tour.

Much of the time Moonves was grilled over the twin subjects haunting CBS News: the lingering effects of the independent report issued last week regarding the Sept. 8 ``60 Minutes Wednesday'' segment on President George W. Bush's National Guard service and its use of discredited documents, and the search for Dan Rather's replacement in the anchor chair after he retires March 9 from ``The CBS Evening News.''

``I'm not going to talk about anybody I've talked with,'' Moonves declared in response to questions of whether he has met with NBC's Katie Couric to anchor the evening newscast and Jon Stewart to contribute to it. Moonves did allow that ``Jon Stewart is part of our company'' - ``The Daily Show With Jon Stewart'' is on Comedy Central, which is owned by Viacom - ``and we talk to him constantly about all sorts of different things.''

``Two people behind the desk will give it an ensemble feel, a quicker feel,'' said Moonves, comparing the change to when CBS' ``The Early Show'' broke the mold of two-anchor morning shows with a four-anchor approach.

``One of the things we're struggling with is that the news is watched by viewers 45 and older,'' he opined. ``We have to try to reinvent that to become more relevant to younger viewers, rather than the guy preaching from the mountaintop. ... There's a wall between the anchor and the public. There should be a relationship between the people on camera and those watching. The Internet has changed things and demanded that change - it's more personalized.''

Moonves said he feels no sense of urgency in naming a replacement despite the fact that Rather's departure is less than two months away. But he admitted, ``We have to do something really different to get people's attention. The good thing about (being in) third place (among the networks' nightly newscasts) is you can try something different.

``This is a time to define what network news is.''

And no network is searching for its soul now more than CBS, humiliated by the report on its rush-to-judgment story on Bush's National Guard tenure. Producer Mary Mapes was fired outright (and complained vociferously about her treatment); three other CBS News employees have been asked to resign. Moonves said they had not yet tendered their resignations, and if they were to not do so, it would become a legal matter he - naturally - would not be able to comment on.

Moonves said that CBS News employees with whom he has consulted ``feel that the appropriate action was taken'' and that more changes were forthcoming.

``This is a great culture of tradition, and people probably relied on that tradition for a long time,'' he observed. ` `But a long time has passed since Walter Cronkite sat in that anchor's chair. ... In terms of processes of news-gathering, things were in place that were antiquated. Things were done the same way for 25 years and need to be examined ... top to bottom at the organization.''

Though Rather will continue contributing to ``60 Minutes Wednesday,'' Moonves had less than encouraging words for the future of that incarnation of the venerable newsmagazine.

`` '60 Minutes Wednesday' has to earn its right to be on the schedule,'' he warned. ``Its (ratings) were not particularly wonderful even before the story got on the air.''

Woes at CBS News dominated Moonves' press conference at a time when the network should be exultant over its dominant performance in prime-time ratings: It won the November sweeps in the advertiser-important 18-to-49 demographic for the first time in a quarter-century and far surpasses the other networks in total viewers.

But throughout CBS' ratings ascent of recent years, a cloud of controversy has always seemed to hang over Moonves during the TCA press tour. In the past, critics have assailed Moonves over the execrable behavior of contestants on its reality show ``Big Brother,'' miniseries about both Ronald Reagan and Adolf Hitler, and the network's wobbly response to subsequent protests and dubious deals or projected deals with Michael Jackson and Jessica Lynch that compromised the division of the network's news and entertainment divisions.

``We're in the eye of the storm, but we're also at the top of the heap,'' Moonves philosophized. ``It goes with the territory.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2) CBS chairman Les Moonves, left, may shake up the evening-news format after Dan Rather leaves the anchor chair.