‘CBS Evening News’ covers the day’s ‘other’ top stories in digest-style segment

After spending months tinkering with its tease headlines and open, “CBS Evening News” began showcasing “other” top stories in a segment at the end of the A Block.

On June 3, 2024, anchor Norah O’Donnell started standing next to one of the studio’s video walls and noting it was time to take a look at the day’s other top stories as a version of the broadcast’s slatted wall and CBS eye motif animated away to reveal a topical graphic. 

The shot was complemented with one of the space’s vertical mobile video panels and used both screens to showcase coordinating graphics for each of the stories.

O’Donnell would then introduce each of the following stories in a similar way.

In one odd choice, the last story’s intro started with the line “And finally, tonight…,” that made it sound a bit like it was the final story of the broadcast, not the segment.

On June 10, 2024, the segment was refined to add a tab graphic on top of the broadcast’s normal lower thirds. It also began featuring a red “Top Stories” label in the lower left corner of the screen.

The segment can also accommodate four stories.

One distinct element of the segment is that O’Donnell tosses to a correspondent rather than simply reading a voiceover.

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The reporters then appear on-camera immediately, typically using a “walk and talk” (or in one case with Carter Evans, a “swim and talk”) style approach to standups. The view then switched to video or still images as the reporter continues to fill in the details. There’s then an animated transition with sound effect before O’Donnell appears on-camera again.

Another common trend is that the correspondent in each segment tends to use O’Donnell’s first name. 

So far, the on-camera portions of these segments appear to be pre-recorded, largely in the “look live” style. 

The on-set graphics used during these segments also tend to be much more eye-catching than the smaller, framed-out OTS-style ones the broadcast uses for other anchor intros, thanks to the fact they cover the entire video wall and are typically void of any competing text. Instead, text and an additional graphic is reserved for the smaller vertical panel.

The approach of using correspondents for these more brief stories allows the broadcast to showcase more of its talent that might otherwise appear on-camera during a given broadcast.

Meanwhile, correspondents are also able to lend a more active feel to the broadcast, something that, unfortunately, doesn’t always flow well with O’Donnell’s slower, more deliberate reading style and rate, but could work well if the pacing were adjusted a bit.

While all three major broadcast newscasts experiment with new segments and storytelling formats from time to time, “Evening” often appears to try new approaches more frequently.

Given that the broadcast typically finishes at the bottom of the ratings among its rivals, there’s probably less concern that switching things up might surprise or even alienate viewers. 

Top-rated “ABC World News Tonight” hasn’t made any major on-screen updates since 2020 when it debuted a new open and set; though the studio largely duplicated the same look it had been using for years prior.

“NBC Nightly News” got a new logo and graphics in June 2023, but retained most of the blocking and set configurations it has used since moving to Studio 1A in 2021.

It’s also worth noting that as an underdog of sorts, “Evening” often appears to have more space to innovate with its presentation styles.

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