We all know the stats – over the past decade, network news audience numbers and ratings have continued to dwindle. The three major networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – have tried a variety of approaches in order to keep what audience they have and attempt to attract new viewers. The morning shows have shown more staying power, with “The Today Show” continuing to hold the number one ranking; however, hard news in the morning has dwindled, while the length of the shows grows. (Both NBC and ABC have added “the third hour” to their shows, which is mostly dedicated to celebrity news, pop culture and cooking.)

Moving Katie Couric, a morning show superstar on “Today” and the first solo female news anchor, to the “CBS Evening News” in September 2006 did little but further sink the evening news program’s ratings into a solid third place. The retirement of legendary anchors like Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings left NBC and ABC grappling with the gender, age and type of anchor that should replace them. Diane Sawyer’s more recent entre to the 6:30 p.m. slot has sparked some momentum for ABC, thought it’s still difficult to discern what one show offers versus another. The hosts may have different styles – Sawyer is known for communicating greater empathy, while Brian Williams attracts a slightly younger audience – but the formula for evening news has largely been the same. Night after night, everyone leads with the same big story regardless of the channel.

However, times may be changing. For the first time in a decade, evening newscasts have shown a slight gain in audience. One noted change that may have something to do with the ratings increase is in the format – the networks are no longer leading with the same story (gasp!). One channel may lead with a breaking story, another with an in-depth political story or another with an exclusive interview. Whether this is contributing to the slight ratings increase remains to be seen, but the networks appear to be shaking up the formula more than ever before. With the continued proliferation of social media to break news and make stories old within the time span of the evening newscast, it’s a good thing the evening news in particular is revamping its model.

Other interesting changes to keep an eye on both with morning and evening news:

“CBS Morning Show”: Two weeks ago, CBS debuted a new host and content strategy for its third-place morning show. Charlie Rose, a legendary PBS newsman who frankly doesn’t seem well suited to engage the mom audience in the morning, is now hosting what’s being touted as a “harder news” morning show, along with Erica Hill and contributor Gayle King. However, on his first days of the show, Rose didn’t appear to offer any hard hitting news at all – he conducted a relatively fluffy interview with Newt Gingrich – and covered celebrity news in the first hour, which is similar to the third hour of content on competitive shows. Perhaps this will change over time, and it’s too early to criticize the program out of the gate, but it seems CBS’s reformulation is not quite up to snuff yet.

“Rock Center with Brian Williams”: While most primetime newsmagazine programs (remember “20/20,” “Dateline”) have gone by the wayside, Brian Williams and NBC have recently launched a new show that is breathing fresh life into a relatively tired genre. Initial episodes include a mix of breaking news, with some creative content approaches and perspectives, integration of Web/social media content, as well as some light-hearted celebrity interviews or pop culture references. At least initially, the show appears to do a great job of covering breaking news in a fresh way and is integrating social media content that younger audiences should appreciate.

--Heather Breslau, Vice President