The Early Show | |
---|---|
Genre | News program |
Presented by | (see section) |
Theme music composer | Chris Bowman (1999–2002) Sting (2002–2006) James Horner (2006–2011) James Trivers, Elizabeth Myers & Alan James Pasqua (2011–2012) |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 14 |
No. of episodes | 3,580 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Batt Humphreys |
Location(s) | General Motors Building, New York City |
Camera setup | Multi-camera |
Running time | 120 minutes (two hours) |
Production company(s) | CBS News Productions |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
Original release | November 1, 1999 | – January 7, 2012
Chronology | |
Preceded by | CBS This Morning (1987–1999) |
Followed by | CBS This Morning (2012–present) |
The Early Show is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. (live in the Eastern Time Zone, and on tape delay in all other time zones), although a number of affiliates either pre-empted or tape-delayed the Saturday edition. The program originally broadcast from the General Motors Building in New York City.
The Early Show, like many of its predecessors, traditionally placed third in the ratings, behind NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America. Much like Today and its fellow NBC program The Tonight Show, the Early Show title was analogous to that of CBS's late-night talk show, the Late Show.
On November 15, 2011, CBS announced the cancellation of The Early Show, and replacement by a new morning program that CBS News chairman Jeff Fager and president David Rhodes stated would "redefine the morning television landscape." The Early Show ended its twelve-year run on January 6, 2012, replaced three days later on January 9 by CBS This Morning.
CBS' first attempt at a morning program debuted on March 15, 1954, with The Morning Show, originally hosted by Walter Cronkite and very similar in format to Today (it, too, ran for two hours from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time until it was reduced to one hour to accommodate the premiere of Captain Kangaroo in 1955). Additional hosts over the years included Jack Paar, John Henry Faulk and Dick Van Dyke. Paar, the most successful of them in drawing an audience, made significant changes in the tone of the program during his tenure as host, casting it into a talk program with some hard news elements but featuring an emphasis on humor and conversation, reminiscent of the kind of morning radio show he had done prior to World War II. In 1956, Paar was moved from The Morning Show to his own late-morning talk program on the network, which aired after Captain Kangaroo. (Paar left CBS to take over NBC's Tonight in 1957.)