It appears the crew behind The Early Show's week-long series "Eye on the Road" didn't keep an eye on the building behind their Louisville live shot yesterday. Over Nancy Cordes' shoulder was a huge billboard featuring GMA's Diane Sawyer.

The billboard is part of a city of Louisville campaign called "Louisville's Own..." Sawyer is featured as well as Muhammad Ali and other famous Louisvillians.

(via Newsblues)

While the CBS Evening News faces the uncertain future of its anchor, one thing is for sure: Katie Couric's broadcast is going HiDef. TVNewser was given inside access to the new CBS Broadcast Center control room Wednesday.

The state of the art facility is "years in the making," said CBS news VP of operations Frank Governale. After the relocation of several departments to accommodate the new control room, construction finally began last July. A month of rehearsals begins next week. The Evening News will debut in HD by "late June/early July," said Governale. The roll-out of field crews shooting in HD will begin with Washington and continue from there. The commitment to HD will expand later this year with 60 Minutes broadcasting in HiDef for its 41st season premiere in September. All CBS News broadcasts will be in HD "by the end of '09," said Governale.

The new control room comes complete with a conference room for use during continuous coverage, a translation booth for foreign news coverage, enough workstations to allow for a live broadcast of one program as well as the planning of two others, and the ubiquitous red phone. "Something I got from Roone Arledge," CBS News & Sports president Sean McManus told us, referring to his mentor. The red phone is the division president's direct line from his office to the executive producer for...let's just say...instant feedback. "Let's make sure the ring is on loud," McManus reminded Governale.

continued...

Former NBCer Jane Pauley talks to Women's Wear Daily's Rosemary Feitelberg about Katie Couric. "It was a brave experiment," she says about Couric anchoring the CBS Evening News. "I think her strengths were unique but she was not well used. She had too many strengths that had nothing to do with that patch-around role.

"I hope she finds something in TV where her strengths will be used as opposed to her current leading role," Pauley continues.

Feitelberg writes that these days, Pauley "is working on a live event that will include an Internet component."

TVNewser got a sneak peek at CBS News's new state of the art control room Wednesday which will begin broadcasting the Evening News in HD next month. More on that tomorrow...

We also had a chance to speak with CBS News & Sports President Sean McManus, who has had more than a few challenges since he added the News division to his domain, less than three years ago: the deaths of two crew members and the critical injury of correspondent Kimberly Dozier in Iraq, the lawsuit filed by the former anchor of the Evening News and the challenges presented by the current broadcast and a morning show EP who lasted less than six months.

• On the Evening News with Katie Couric: McManus says there is "a bit of a perception problem" with the broadcast; between the quality of the production and the continued talk over the future of Couric. "It's as good if not better than the others," McManus glowed.

• On the 'look' of CBS News: "As you know, the broadcast didn't use a lot of graphics in the past," McManus says. "We hired Bob [Peterson] from NBC to upgrade our graphic look." So far Peterson's team has re-designed the Evening News, is in the process of designing a new look for The Early Show and has added more graphics throughout. McManus says his goal is, "to make the stories as graphical and as visual as they can be."

• On The Early Show: McManus said the broadcast "is still not where we want it to be." But that interim EP Rick Kaplan "put us in good shape" and helped the anchors "build chemistry...like they've never had before." As for whether fill-in EP Zev Shalev will get the top job, McManus says, "Zev is terrific...We'll see if it works out."

• On former Early anchor Hannah Storm returning to sports and ESPN, McManus says, "I'm really happy for her. This is right in her wheelhouse, so it's great."

CBS debuted a new promo for the Evening News a few hours ago — on Katie Couric's YouTube channel. The promo will air later on CBS. The one-minute clip features segments of Couric's interview with President Bush, the Armen Keteyian report on military suicides (and subsequent congressional hearings) and Couric's reporting from the Minneapolis bridge collapse:

60 Minutes has been issued an order by the Greater Manchester (UK) Police to hand over notes of interviews with reformed British Jihadist Hassan Butt. Correspondent Bob Simon interviewed Butt for a story that aired in March, 2007.

The Press Gazette (UK) reports that the BBC, the Sunday Times and Prospect magazine have also been "issued with orders under schedule five of the Terrorism Act 2000."

60 Minutes spokesperson Kevin Tedesco tells TVNewser, "We plan to vigorously contest this demand for our unpublished material."

The British network and publications are expected to appear in court later this week in Manchester to oppose the order.

An emailer writes: hmmm. Just asking: From Sept. 2006 until yesterday hung a billboard on the front of the CBS Broadcast Center promoting the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Today, there is nothing there.

Insiders tell TVNewser the billboard was taken down for repairs and cleaning and should be back up by the end of the week.

> More from an emailer: WCBS-TV reported and showed yesterday that the Katie Couric ad came down during yesterday's storms. I'm not sure if they took it down for safety reasons or if it fell but it's definitely weather-related.

> More, more from an insider: Couric billboard came partly undone due to wind and was fully removed for safety reasons. Will be reinstalled by the end of the week.

A behind-the-scenes video of Katie Couric's interview with Sen. John McCain and his mother, Roberta McCain, is up on Couric's YouTube page. After meeting Roberta, who is 96-years-old, Couric says, "I'd like to look like her when I'm fifty-six!" Later, Couric and the presidential nominee talk about his recent Daily Show appearance. The full interview airs tonight on the CBS Evening News:

The second story from the combined Washington Post/60 Minutes partnership will premiere this Sunday. The investigation, from WaPo reporters Dana Priest, Amy Goldstein and 60's Scott Pelley, uncovers the neglectful conditions and inadequate medical treatment in a U.S. government-run prison system that has caused the deaths of some detainees.

The story is Priest's first as a contributor to 60 Minutes.

The first story, "Evidence of Injustice," was a joint investigation that was recently named the winner of the Sigma Delta Chi Investigative Award. It was broadcast on 60 Minutes Nov. 18, 2007, with a print version appearing in The Washington Post the same day.

First on TVNewser: Insiders tell us Rick Kaplan's days of double duty at CBS News are coming to a close. Kaplan has been acting EP of The Early Show since early March. He's also kept his day job as EP of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, though the EN staff has done most of the heavy lifting.

Kaplan's last day at Early will be this Friday. We're told he's going to take a few days off. Meanwhile, insiders tell us CBS execs are looking at internal candidates to fill the Early Show EP vacancy. For the time-being TES newcomer Zev Shalev will oversee the show.

> More: Kaplan tells TVNewser, "I love my children here on the morning show and I'm happy to get back with my buds at the Evening News." Even though he's officially back Monday, Kaplan still has some unfinished business on TES which he'll take care of early next week. Then he'll take a week off. "I haven't had time off since my hip, and that's not really a vacation," joked Kaplan.

Asked about the future of the Evening News and the possibility his anchor may depart after the election, Kaplan says, "look there are challenges. We'll work our butts off together. There are a lot of things we can do together and we will." Kaplan will also oversee general election coverage which will include the next version of Primary Questions, called Presidential Questions, "When we get down to two candidates," Kaplan said.