CBS is delivering its upfront presentation to advertisers, media buyers and the press this afternoon, and CEO Les Moonves took aim squarely at NBC and “Today” in his opening statement.

“We believe that great drama belongs in primetime between 8-11 PM, not at 7 in the morning,” Moonves quipped, as a photo of Ann Curry and Matt Lauer from Curry’s departure from “Today” appeared on stage behind him (see the photo to the left).

Of course, “CBS This Morning” also had a talent change in the last year, as Erica Hill left (eventually joining NBC) and Norah O’Donnell came on board. That said, the transition was free of drama in front of the cameras.

CBS News was given prime placement at the upfront, with Moonves introducing the division. The CBS CEO said that “under the leadership of Jeff Fager and David Rhodes there is a renaissance going on,” before introducing a clip reel with news from the last year. Scott Pelley and O’Donnell then appeared on stage to talk about CBS News.

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While still trailing in the evening news race, the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” continues to show the most growth in viewership: up +12% compared to the same week last year. At the same time, it’s the only evening broadcast to shed viewers in the ad-friendly A25-54 demo, down -2% compared to last year. “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” extends its winning streak among total viewers to 191 weeks and among younger viewers to 233 weeks. “Nightly” is up year-over-year in both total viewers (+3%) and younger viewers (+4%). “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” is up in total viewers (+1%) and flat in the demo.

Numbers for the week of May 6, 2013:

Accepting his Fred Friendly First Amendment award this afternoon at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Club, CBS News anchor and managing editor Scott Pelley delivered an impassioned speech about the sorry state of journalism in 2013.

“Our house is on fire,” Pelley said of the business at large. “Never before in human history has more information been available to more people. But at the same time never before in human history has more bad information been available to more people.”

Pelley took “the first arrow,” recalling his own mistake over some of the early reporting out of Sandy Hook Elementary in December. Then he recounted early errors after the Boston Marathon was bombed. “We were attacked by terrorists on that day, and amateur journalists became digital vigilantes.”

Pelley joins 19 other TV journalists including Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, Ted Koppel, and, last year, Martha Raddatz, as Fred Friendly honorees. He told the crowd, which included his CBS News colleagues past and present, that “disruptive technologies” are partly to blame.

“Twitter, Facebook and Reddit: that’s not journalism. That’s gossip. Journalism was invented as an antidote to gossip.”

Pelley also took on the chest thumping that goes on in local and national newsrooms around the nation every day.

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Several television news journalists have landed on Reader’s Digest list of “The 100 Most Trusted People in America.” At #12, “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts is the most-trusted television news personality on the list.

In addition to Roberts, the morning shows are well represented: “GMA” anchor George Stephanopoulos is #57, while “Today” show co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer are #85 and #97, respectively.

The three evening news anchors make the list –ABC’s Diane Sawyer at #25, NBC’s Brian Williams at #29 and CBS’ Scott Pelley at #63. ABC’s Barbara Walters (#34), Katie Couric (#37) and Christiane Amanpour (#56) are also among the most trusted.

From the cable news landscape, CNN’s Sanjay Gupta is #17 and  Anderson Cooper is #50. HLN’s Dr. Drew Pinsky is #90 and Fox News anchor Shepard Smith rounds out the list at #100.

For the week of April 29, all three evening newscasts grew in total viewers but shed younger viewers compared to the same week last year.

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” was on top as usual, up +2% in viewers while down -4% in the demo. “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” was up +4% in viewers and down -4% in the demo. “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” was once again up the most in viewers: +6% but down the most in the demo: -6% .

Numbers for the week of April 29, 2013:

A story reported by Harry Reasoner on “60 Minutes “60 Minutes” 26 years ago inspired an individual named Paul Tudor Jones. On Sunday’s edition of the program, Jones and the charity he founded is getting the “60 Minutes” treatment.

Here is Reasoner’s original 1986 story:

Sunday, Scott Pelley talks to Jones about the Robin Hood Foundation, which has given away some $1.25 billion since it was founded.

Scott Pelley is the recipient of Quinnipiac University’s 20th annual Fred Friendly First Amendment Award.

The “CBS Evening News” anchor will be presented the award, given annually to a journalist who has “shown courage and forthrightness in preserving the First Amendment,” on May 10 in New York City.

“For a CBS News correspondent, the Fred Friendly Award is especially humbling,” said Pelley said in a statement. “Fred taught us courage, fairness and humility in equal measure. He helped invent our industry and set the mark for all who follow.”

More from CBS after the jump. Read more

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” was on top as usual for the week of April 22, beating “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” by +605,000 Total Viewers and +320,000 viewers in the A25-54 demographic. “World News” leads “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” by +1,078,000 Total Viewers and +155,000 A25-54 viewers.

But only Pelley’s newscast has grown in both ratings measurements compared to the same week last year, up +12% in Total Viewers and +5% in A25-54 viewers. “World News” is up +3% in Total Viewers and down -4% in the A25-54 demographic and “Nightly” is flat in both ratings measurements.

Numbers for the week of April 22, 2013:

• MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski opens up in MORE magazine about her struggles with an eating disorder: “Food was the thing I could count on. Food always loved me back.”

• Tonight, Scott Pelley will be presented an Overseas Press Club Award for his “60 Minutes” interview with a Navy SEAL who was in the room when Osama Bin Laden was killed.

• Politico reports CNN is in discussions with former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter as the network plans the revival of “Crossfire.” TVNewser first reported news of the show’s return.

The three evening newscasts added 3.5 million viewers compared to a typical week last week as interest intensified following Monday’s attacks at the Boston Marathon.

“NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” was the most-watched and compared to the same week last year was up +18% in total viewers and +35% in younger viewers. “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” was up +19% / +24%, respectively, while “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley” showed the most viewer growth: +26%, while also up +21% in the demo.

Friday’s broadcasts on all three networks are excluded from the weekly averages as the newscasts were effectively pre-empted by the breaking news of the capture of the second suspect in the bombings.

Numbers for the week of April 15, 2013: