November 17, 2003

JOSH HOWARD IS NAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF "60 MINUTES II"

Howard Will Assume Position in June 2004 When Current Executive Producer Jeff Fager Moves to "60 Minutes" and Don Hewitt Assumes New Editorial Duties As Executive Producer, CBS News

Josh Howard, a 14-year veteran of 60 MINUTES who most recently has served as Executive Editor of that program, has been named Executive Producer, 60 MINUTES II, it was announced today by Andrew Heyward, President, CBS News.

The move is effective in June 2004. At that time, current 60 MINUTES II Executive Producer Jeff Fager will move to the same position at 60 MINUTES as 60 MINUTES Creator and Executive Producer Don Hewitt assumes new editorial responsibilities as Executive Producer, CBS News. That announcement was made in January of this year.

"We're very fortunate to have a person with Josh's breadth of experience and depth of talent to fill this critical role," said Heyward. "As one of Don's top lieutenants for the past seven years, he has learned from the master, but Josh also brings his own distinctive outlook and powerful portfolio of skills to the job. I know he will uphold the high standards set by Don and Jeff while leading 60 MINUTES II to continued growth and success."

This season, 60 MINUTES II has won its time period -- Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT -- since the conclusion of the World Series. 60 MINUTES, still the Number One news magazine on television, has claimed the two most watched news programs of the 2003-04 season thus far (Nov. 9 and Oct. 26).

While 60 MINUTES and 60 MINUTES II share a similar format, visual look and some operational resources, they operate as independent broadcasts and will continue to do so.

"Josh is a natural fit to take over 60 MINUTES II," said Fager, who has been executive producer of 60 MINUTES II since its inception in 1999. "It would be hard to find a stronger person for this job. He's a first-class producer, a great individual and a terrific friend."

"In a long career in television," said Hewitt, "I've never worked with anyone I had more respect for and faith in than Josh."

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The multi-award-winning Howard, 48, joined CBS in 1981 and has spent nearly all of the past 14 years at 60 MINUTES, most recently -- since June of this year -- as executive editor of the broadcast, in effect, Hewitt's second-in-command. Before that, he was a senior producer (1996-2003), one of the key people who shape the editorial content of all 60 MINUTES segments and manage the day-to-day operations of the broadcast. Howard began his 60 MINUTES career as a producer, working primarily with Mike Wallace (1989-94).

In 1995, as executive producer of the CBS News Productions' "Biography: This Week" series, Howard helped create the concept for the weekly installment of A&E's acclaimed "Biography" series that focused on the top newsmaker of the week. Previously, he was a senior producer for the CBS News magazine, "Eye to Eye with Connie Chung." (1994-95). He also was a producer for the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER (1986-89).

Howard began his broadcast journalism career at WCBS-TV, CBS's flagship New York station in where he served as broadcast producer for "Channel 2 News at 6" (1985-86), senior producer for special projects (1984-85) and producer in the station's investigative unit (1981-84).

Howard has won numerous journalistic awards, including 13 national Emmy Awards for reports broadcast on THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH DAN RATHER and 60 MINUTES, and seven New York area Emmy Awards.

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Press Contacts:         Sandy Genelius  212/975.7525            smg@cbsnews.com
                        Kelli Edwards           212/977.6795    kee@cbsnews.com