Networks use newsmagazines to seek advantage over cable

NEW YORK -- The war on terrorism and the public's intense interest in the story has given the news divisions at ABC, CBS and NBC a renewed sense of purpose after several morale-sapping years.

Each has responded nimbly to the breaking news demands, but then so have their cable competitors on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.

It's on the prime-time newsmagazines, with their mix of investigation, story-telling and human interest, where the broadcasters have been able to stake a clear advantage over the competition.

The newsmagazine formats are elastic, as seen in CBS' stretching of "60 Minutes" to two hours on Sunday night to cover the American-led attacks in Afghanistan.

"It's a story that cries out for in-depth reporting and the magazines are uniquely situated to do that," said Andrew Heyward, CBS News president.

Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the three CBS prime-time newsmagazines haven't reported on anything else.

Steve Kroft investigated airline security. Ed Bradley profiled a hard-hit New Jersey commuter town and took the pulse of Muslims inside and outside America. Bob Simon profiled the "typical" terrorist and Charlie Rose interviewed an architect about the changed New York skyline.

"Dateline NBC" has also stayed on the story exclusively. ABC's two newsmagazines have gingerly placed a few lighter stories -- interviews with college-bound quintuplets and actor Rob Lowe -- into the mix.

Within two days of the attacks, "20/20" and "Primetime Thursday" producers were working to weave developments into narratives, said Phyllis McGrady, senior vice president in charge of prime-time news at ABC.

Connie Chung told of the heart-rending irony of a man who worked at the World Trade Center and survived the collapse, while his sister was on one of the planes that slammed into the building. John Miller interviewed a former associate of Osama bin Laden, and John Stossel went back to some black Americans who had complained about racial profiling to see how they felt when Arabs were affected.