CBS

The NBC and CBS news divisions each programmed an hour of primetime Wednesday night to mixed viewer results.

On CBS, it was the return of “Person to Person,” the iconic interview program hosted first by Edward R. Murrow and later by Charles Collingwood. The new iteration pairs Charlie Rose and Lara Logan (shouldn’t it be ‘People to Person’?) and last night featured interviews with George Clooney, Warren Buffet and Jon Bon Jovi.

On NBC at 9pm, the new day and time for “Rock Center,” a blockbuster interview with one-time White House intern Mimi Aflord who discussed it great — and at one point not-safe-for-primetime — detail, her affair with Pres. John F. Kennedy, including rubber duckies and fixing eggs. The interview by Meredith Vieira — in her debut on the show — took up most of the hour. According to the overnight ratings:

• At 8pm “Person to Person” came in third in its timeslot drawing 6.02 million viewers and a 4.2 rating/6 share in households. The show was up against “American Idol” (17.91M viewers) and sitcoms on ABC (7.88M). The CBS News show outperformed sitcoms on NBC.

• At 9pm “Rock Center” built on its lackluster sitcom lead-in, drawing 5.28 million Total Viewers and a 3.7 rating/5 share in households, but came in 4th in the hour behind, CBS, ABC and FOX.

If you caught the “Rock Center” interview you might have noticed an interesting parallel between it and “Person to Person.” The “Rock Center” story included a clip from an interview done 50 years ago this month, on February 14, 1962, when First Lady Jackie Kennedy took Collingwood on a tour of the White House. The hour was produced by CBS News but also aired on NBC, and, four days later, on ABC.

The Museum of Broadcasting said the Collingwood report, “was the first primetime documentary to explicitly court a female audience.” Sort of what “Person to Person” and “Rock Center” went for last night.

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CBS News has released a promo for its new iteration of the primetime profile series “Person to Person.” The debut episode features actor George Clooney, rocker Jon Bon Jovi and billionaire Warren Buffett. The format looks unusual, with hosts Charlie Rose and Lara Logan sitting in the new “CBS This Morning” studio, talking to their guests on its massive video screen.

WATCH:

Clooney, in his interview, talked about his film “Good Night, and Good Luck” and was asked why he didn’t play Edward R. Murrow:

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While political junkies were watching the results of the Nevada caucus on the cable networks, a majority of those watching broadcast TV Saturday night, were watching CBS News’ “48 Hours Mystery.” The episode “Dark Side of Paradise,” about an American who went missing while sailing in the Caribbean, was the #1 show of the night with 6.12M Total Viewers. The show won its time period in two younger demos: A25-54 (1.8/05) and A18-49 (1.3/04). Compared to the same night last year, the show was up +13% in households, +20% in A25-54 and +44% in A18-49.

As New York Giants fans crowded into lower Manhattan for this morning’s ticker tape parade celebrating the Super Bowl champions — covered live on all of the local TV stations — one of their most loyal fans was watching from above. Here’s a “60 Minutes” flashback, to 1987, when Andy Rooney went to Giants Stadium with his game-plan for an end to what would become a 24-day players strike. “Now if only I could get Diane Sawyer to do the cheer-leading.”

In case you haven’t noticed lately, “CBS News Sunday Morning” is not just for the dentured set.

“It amuses me when people are surprised that we have younger viewers,” says Charles Osgood, 79, the show’s anchor and poet-in-residence. “They said the same thing about ’60 Minutes.’ It’s part of the reason the show is so good.”

And so popular. Week in and week out, the quirky, understated ‘Sunday Morning’ routinely beats NBC’s “Sunday Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America Sunday” in terms of households, viewers, and adults 25-54.

With a median age of 59.8, viewers of “Sunday Morning” are certainly not young, but they are the youngest of the troika, if only by a matter of months. It rankles Osgood to no end that advertisers consider adults 55 and older as the walking dead.

“It’s a mistake to think that people over 54 don’t buy anything and don’t go anywhere,” says Osgood, who succeeded the late, great Charles Kuralt in 1994. “It’s patently untrue, as all of us, including advertisers, are aware.

“Being 65 does not mean you’re old anymore. You’ve got a lot of living to do. You’re not going to sit around and watch Lawrence Welk.” (To those under 60, check Wikipedia.)

Like Osgood, executive producer Rand Morrison objects to the stereotype of “Sunday Morning” as a show for old folks. (He prefers to think of them as grown-ups.)

“I deny the allegation,” says Morrison, 61. “My niece has a “Sunday Morning” app. Younger people come up to me and voice their opinions about the show. People, at different times of

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Here’s some counter-programming for you. With the Super Bowl airing on NBC, CBS’s “60 Minutes” gives it up for the ladies. The special “Three Remarkable Women” will be hosted by Morley Safer and air Sunday at 8pmET/PT. In the normal “60″ timeslot of 7pmET/6pmCT, CBS will air “Undercover Boss.” The special will feature “60 Minutes” interviews with Dolly Parton, Anna Wintour and Meryl Streep.

Almost 60 years after Edward R. Murrow took viewers into the homes of icons like John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, and Elizabeth Taylor, CBS News’ “Person to Person” is back as a television special airing Wednesday, at 8pmET/PT.

The modern day hosts, Lara Logan and Charlie Rose get a tour of George Clooney‘s Los Angeles home. Warren Buffett opens up his Omaha office, and Jon Bon Jovi welcomes the show to his New Jersey mansion.

“What sets our broadcast apart is the unique access,” says Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky.

“When someone opens their home, they’re sharing a part of themselves that traditional interview programs can’t reach,” adds Co-EP Judy Tygard.

“Person to Person” debuts on the same night that NBC’s “Rock Center” moves to its new night, Wednesday’s at 9pmET/PT.

Former CNN executive Nancy Lane is joining CBS News. Lane has been tapped as executive producer of CBSNews.com, tasked with overseeing all editorial for the news division’s digital outlets.

“Nancy’s long experience managing a global news organization will help us deliver original reporting from CBS News across all digital media,” said CBS News president David Rhodes in a statement. “Early in our discussions about this role, [CBS News chairman] Jeff Fager and I became convinced that Nancy shared our editorial values and could be a tremendous asset in this growing area.”

Lane was most recently senior VP of editorial for CNN/U.S., a role she left in August, 2010. She started her career at CNN in 1981 as an intern, working her way up through the ranks.

More information, after the jump.
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At the start of “Face the Nation” this morning Bob Schieffer, anchoring adjacent to Jungle Island in Miami, followed up on his offer to the Gingrich and Romney campaigns to debate during today’s special hour-long edition. “Romney wanted no part of that,” said Schieffer. But Gingrich agreed, so Schieffer interviewed him on his campaign bus Friday. Schieffer also interviewed Donald Trump who isn’t finished with politics. “If I don’t see a person that, number one, is going to win — that’s tantamount — I would certainly think about doing it after [The Apprentice] ends,” said Trump. “You’re telling me you’re really serious about it, and you may — depending on what happens — you may get into this thing after all?, asked Schieffer”

“I hope I don’t have to. But I may — absolutely,” said Trump during their interview taped Saturday at Trump’s club Mar-a-Lago, beside a roaring fire. (The high temperature in Palm Beach was 79 degrees.)

Later on the show, humorist Dave Barry joined the bayside roundtable. “What a courageous patriot. The man is willing to maybe give up his TV show to run… Thank you Donald Trump. America thanks you. Just like Abraham Lincoln, gave up his TV show…”

“CBS This Morning” Saturday edition co-anchor Rebecca Jarvis was married last night in Minneapolis. Jarvis, who is also CBS News’ business and economics correspondent, married Matthew Hanson, whom she met at the University of Chicago and later worked with at an investment bank in Chicago. Jarvis tells the New York Times: “By working so closely together for a year, I got to know him very well. I had already seen how well he treated other girls he dated before me, and I knew how genuine he was. Investment banking is a brutal business, but he always had the ability to do the comic-relief thing to help relieve the stress, not just for me but for other members of our group.”

Jarvis would go on to be the runner-up on season four of “The Apprentice” and then, in 2006, to CNBC. Jarvis joined CBS in 2010, and two weeks ago was named co-anchor of the Saturday edition of “CBS This Morning.”