"60 Minutes Wednesday" is currently scheduled to be on the air till May - two months after Mr. Rather has said he'd be leaving the "Evening News."

But Moonves hinted the future didn't look too bright for the "60 Minutes" clone, complaining, "They are not exactly tearing it up in the ratings over there."

Ironically "60 Minutes Wednesday" was the very show where Rather aired 30-year-old documents he purported to be President Bush's military records, which later turned out to have been forged.

Jeff Fager, executive producer for the Sunday version of "60 Minutes" who took over the midweek broadcast as the Rathergate scandal metastasized, also hinted that Rather's fallback job may be less than secure.

The release of the official Rathergate report has damaged the credibility of "60 Minutes Wednesday" even further, he told the Times, saying, "We're stuck with that."

Ratings for Rather's midweek broadcast were off 17 percent from last year, representing a loss of nearly 2 million viewers. But CBS's contract with the scandal-scarred anchorman runs through 2006.

CBS executives couldn't say for certain whether Rather would shift to the original "60 Minutes" Sunday broadcast if the Wednesday show is canceled.

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