NEW YORK, March 8 (UPI) -- CBS News in New York has reportedly tapped TV news executive Rick Kaplan to replace Rome Hartman as executive producer of the "Evening News with Katie Couric."
The shake-up follows months of disappointing ratings for the newscast, which introduced Couric as its anchor in September, The New York Times said Thursday.
While ratings were up initially after Couric arrived at CBS from NBC's "Today," the newscast returned to its No. 3 spot among network newscasts in terms of total viewers.
CBS News executives declined to comment to the Times but two people who were informed of the decision said Hartman was told after Wednesday's newscast. Several staff members were also told that Kaplan would become the executive producer, although when wasn't known, the newspaper reported.
The CBS change is the latest among the three network newscasts. NBC recently removed John Reiss, the executive producer of "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams," after ABC's evening newscast surpassed it in the ratings during the February sweeps month. It was the first time ABC had won a month in nearly a year.
