Last night after the CBS Evening News, staffers bid farewell to Sean McManus who has led the news division for more than 5 years. McManus is leaving News and will concentrate on his job as Chairman of CBS Sports.

McManus made brief remarks to the newsroom after the broadcast. Insiders tells us anchor and managing editor Katie Couric, who Tweeted this picture, spoke on behalf of the news team, thanking McManus for wearing both the News and Sports hats during these past years, and letting him know how much he will be missed.

Former Fox News and Bloomberg executive David Rhodes takes over as news president next week.

The cat is out of the bag for tonight’s reveal of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover on the Late Show With David Letterman.

Rana Wardlaw spotted the cover of the 25-year-old Russian model Irina Shayk outside her office window and quickly snapped a photo of it.

“I saw it from my office window,” Wardlaw told the Huffington Post. “I work at a media agency called Starcom Worldwide. They unveiled the billboard for a few minutes to tape it for the Letterman Show and then covered it back up. I guess they didn’t cover it fast enough!”

Happy Valentine’s Day, fellas.

The top-rated news program on television has long been the Sunday CBS flagship “60 Minutes.” That program has been under the watchful eye of executive producer Jeff Fager since 2004.

Today, CBS announced a shakeup at the top of CBS News, putting Fager in charge with the title of Chairman. David Rhodes joins CBS from Bloomberg. 37-year-old Rhodes has been named president of CBS News, with current News president Sean McManus exiting to focus on CBS Sports.

TVNewser spoke with Fager shortly after the announcement about his plans for CBS News, recruiting Rhodes, and his star anchor, Katie Couric.

TVNewser: Congratulations on the new role.

Jeff Fager: Thank you very much, it is exciting.

How did this come about?

Well, I have been talking to the boss, Leslie [Moonves] about it. He brought it up in the last couple of months. He has never wanted me to leave “60 Minutes,” I didn’t want to leave “60 Minutes,” so this is a really good solution to that.

Were you involved in recruiting David Rhodes from Bloomberg?

Yeah, I actually spent quite a bit of time with him in the past month. He is just such a tremendously interesting and smart guy. I will tell you, the fact that David is so capable made it a lot easier for me to do both jobs. He is one of the sharpest people I have known, and I think we have very similar sensibilities. We want to be proud of our broadcasts, and we want them to be the highest quality broadcast journalism out there, so much the way we feel about “60 Minutes.” It is the combination of David as president and Bill Owens as executive editor [at 60 Minutes] that really allows me to do both of these jobs.

Considering David came from Bloomberg, there has long been talk about CBS News talking to cable networks…

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Sean McManus

Breaking: Sean McManus, the president of CBS News and Sports, will be vacating his role as head of CBS News, the company confirms. McManus will become chairman of CBS Sports in the new reporting structure.

In his place, “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager will become chairman of CBS News, while David Rhodes, currently in charge of Bloomberg TV, will become president of CBS News. Before Bloomberg, Rhodes spent 12 years at Fox News Channel, starting as a PA and eventually leading the network’s newsgathering division. Fager will continue to oversee “60 Minutes” while serving as chairman

“In these two great news professionals, we get the best of both worlds: the quintessential insider with deep knowledge of the business and all the moving parts at CBS News, as well as a dynamic young executive with strong news management experience and a tough, fresh point of view,” said CBS CEO Les Moonves in a statement.  ”They will inherit a proud and dedicated organization that has been well positioned for success in the future by their predecessor.  Together, they make the ultimate winning team.”

Paul Friedman, currently executive VP at CBS News, will remain in that role.

More information in the official announcement, after the jump.

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Did the National Football League start losing the lockout rhetoric war with its treatment of those 1,250 fans on Super Bowl Sunday?

On some level, the battle between the league and the Players Union will come down to which side can persuade the fans it has a better case. (Yes, this is all about money, but the fans can exude some level of pressure to get a deal done as well.) If that’s the case, the NFL’s case took a hit on Sunday.

William Rhoden warns the behemoth, writing:

You can disrespect fans only so much before they turn on you. A few more episodes like what happened in Arlington, coupled with a nasty lockout and the newly fashionable personal seat licenses, and the N.F.L. empire could begin a decline in popularity.

While that argument falls flat, the league is treading on thin ice. Read more

Broadcasting & Cable spoke to a number of network and cable news executives, to get their thoughts on how they have been covering the crisis in Egypt.

Each had their own perspective on the coverage, and how they will handle it going forward.

CNN’s Tony Maddox said that it is up to CNN’s journalists is they want to stay in Egypt to cover the story.

We’ve made it abundantly clear to our folks that if they want out, we’ll do all we can to help get them out as well. By and large, you’d be surprised at how many of these horrible looking stories people want to be in them, they get a sense of mission, a sense of purpose, they want to be in the thick of it. Makes you proud to work with people like that. But also some of our very bravest people are the ones that say, you know what, I’ve done all I can with this story, now I need a break from it and move on. Whenever anyone’s like that, we’re always very supportive and very quick to be able to facilitate it.

CBS News & Sports chief Sean McManus said that the coverage showed that there is still a commitment to international newsgathering:

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Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News reports ESPN is in talks with Stephen A. Smith on a deal that would have him hosting a radio show on ESPN 1050 in New York City.

“This is the first step to Stephen A getting back in the ESPN family, which means he’ll will also be doing television at some point,” a source told Raissman.

Smith left his radio gig at Fox Sports Radio at the end of last year. He previously hosted a radio show on ESPN 1050 with Brandon Tierney between 2005-2008.

While a return to radio wouldn’t be a huge surprise for the brash and outspoken Smith, I’m curious to see in what capacity ESPN would use him on television.

Too bad Rasho Nesterovic isn’t still in the NBA.

Andy Rooney is 92 today.  His birthday comes exactly one week after that of a fellow CBSer, who was surprised when Rooney and many other Tiffany network colleagues made cameos in a birthday video tribute to her.

Les Moonves, Sean McManus, Rick Kaplan, and Susan Zirinsky appear, along with a certain Today show anchor. The identity of the birthday girl, after the jump…  Read more

You knew it was coming, right?

Current CBS “Early Show” weather anchor Dave Price is leaving CBS News, he said on the program today. Last month CBS News announced a total reshuffling of the “Early Show” anchor team, adding that it would be working to find other roles for the departing anchors at the company.

Price is opting to leave CBS instead.

“Today is my last day at CBS News,” Price said. “I’ve had my dream job at The Early Show for eight years and deeply appreciate the outpouring of affection from so many viewers and colleagues. While sorry to leave, I’m eager and very excited about the next phase of my career.”

CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus also had kind words to say about Price in a statement:

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