RIP, Ed Bradley

Ed Bradley
1941-2006

I was shocked to hear earlier this afternoon about the untimely passing of CBS News' and '60 Minutes' reporter Ed Bradley. A Philadelphia native, Bradley died of pneumonia as a indirect result of leukemia (he was diagnosed two years ago but was currently in remission). He is survived by his wife Phyllis and leaves a gaping hole in the fabric of that Sunday night news-magazine staple.

Although I've fallen away from this show over the past several years (its time slot conflicts with the end of football games when CBS wasn't broadcasting them, Fox animated shows and other weekend-ending things happening at the 7PM hour), I used to like the way our Armed Forces affiliate used to show it in Japan. Because of the 13-hour time difference between our local standard time and Eastern Standard Time (14 with daylight savings), '60 Minutes' aired on Mondays at 8AM (9AM in the DST months) on the network's news channel. Since most of the base's working folks were away from home during that time, the local affiliate reran it at 7PM that evening so it never experienced any sports 'delays' (like US West Coast viewers). If that seems strange, remind me to tell you about watching 'Monday Night Football' on Tuesdays some time.

Back to Ed...although he wasn't one of the original hosts (Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner kicked things off back in September 1968), he joined the ensemble for its 14th season and stuck around for 25 renewals until this most recent one. He reported on a wide variety of stories but cut his journalistic 'teeth' during the Vietnam War (he was wounded during a mortar attack in the conduct of his duties). He served as CBS News' White House correspondent during the early years of the Carter administration and gravitated towards television news documentaries prior to joining the '60 Minutes' team in 1981.

Ed's death will most likely be another blow to hardcore viewership numbers for this investigative reporting icon. The recent departures of both Mike Wallace and 'relative' newcomer Dan Rather (mostly confined to 'moonlighting' segments on the canceled '60 Minutes II' spin-off) removes almost all of the personnel (Morley Safer the sole exception) from the show's 'glory days' period when they were a 'must-see' item--enjoyed a 5-year streak as television's highest rated program. The network has brought in some 'new' blood over the years (Steve Croft, Bob Simon, Leslie Stahl, Scott Pelley) and, in just the past two years, added chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan, the new 'CBS Evening News' anchor Katie Couric, and CNN's Anderson Cooper for periodic contributions. Andy Rooney, who started out in 1978 and will turn 87 this coming January, rounds out their team.

A 2003 photo of the '60 Minutes' cast

In this day and age of 24/7 news coverage on television and the internet, the uniqueness of this pioneering program has been diluted among the multitude of other 'knock-offs'. Programs such as '20/20' and 'Dateline NBC' tend to focus more on the sensational or reality-based subjects which garner a larger share of the higher-prized demographics (18-54 year olds). The average age of '60 Minutes' viewers is outside that range and that can be readily seen by the types of advertising seen during their broadcasts (spots for prescription medications and 'E.D.' products abound--no iPods or 'Hummers' to be seen). After nearly 40 years on the air, the show is still going strong (currently #16 in total households for primetime series in the most recent Nielsen ratings for the 2006-2007 season), no doubt fueled by the exploits of the current administration and Congress.

The eventual departure of Safer will remove all vestiges from the program's more formative years and put me smack dab into their target audience. Maybe then I will be able to discipline myself to either be watching or recording for a later viewing--that is if I'm still awake!