The newsmagazine spinoff was where Rather reported last September that Bush skirted some duty while in the National Guard and a commander felt pressure to sugarcoat an evaluation of him. An independent panel later concluded that documents used in the story could not be verified.

But Leslie Moonves, the CBS chairman who has the final call on the network schedule, said the story didn't figure in the cancellation _ "not even slightly."

"This was a ratings call, not a content call," he said.

When the Wednesday "60 Minutes" debuted in 1999, many who worked at the Sunday show worried that it would dilute or somehow soil television's original newsmagazine. But Wednesday's show won two duPont awards, four Peabodys and 10 Emmys in its short history.

The show was on the bubble for cancellation a year ago, but its story last April about abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison became one of TV news' most talked-about stories. Rather and Mary Mapes, the producer later fired for her role in the Bush story, accepted a Peabody for the Abu Ghraib story in New York two days ago.

The newsmagazine's ratings declined 14 percent from a year ago, a decline accelerated by the success of the ABC drama "Lost" in the same time slot. Ironically, ABC announced Tuesday that "Lost" would vacate that time slot.

The show also has one of the oldest audiences on CBS's prime-time lineup, and CBS is aggressively courting the 18-to-49-year-old audience that advertisers covet.

Some experts believe it was naive to think the National Guard story, which greatly angered the Bush administration and its supporters, didn't play a part in that decision.

"The idea that a decision like this was made outside of the whole political context is unthinkable, so I don't take that seriously," said Jay Rosen, New York University journalism professor and author of the "Pressthink" Web log.

But Heyward said there was no question it was a ratings decision.

"Of everything you hear today, that you can take to the bank," he said. "Leslie said that and I have no reason to believe anything other than that. There is no reason to believe the ratings were affected by (the Guard story). This is not a political statement. This is the television marketplace speaking."

While disappointing, the decision didn't come as a total surprise, he said. When Josh Howard, the show's former executive producer, resigned in connection with his role in the Guard story earlier this year, he wasn't replaced. Jeff Fager, also executive producer of "60 Minutes" on Sunday, supervised both shows.

Heyward said he could not immediately say whether there will be layoffs among the show's several dozen employees.

Regular correspondents Bob Simon and Scott Pelley have also contributed to the Sunday show. Charlie Rose and Vicky Mabry also worked on the Wednesday edition.

The show was Rather's home base since he stepped down as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" in March. While he will report for "60 Minutes," it's unclear whether he will become one of the correspondents pictured every week at the beginning of the show. He was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday, an aide said.

Television newsmagazines in general have been suffering in the ratings. There was some speculation that one of ABC's newsmagazines might be canceled, but both "20/20" and "Primetime Live" were included on the schedule announced Tuesday.

"The mood in the country right now tends to favor escape," Heyward said. "There's a lot of grim news out there. In prime time, when people are looking to be entertained as well as informed, a drama or a reality show is tough competition. The thing about reality shows is they offer the same appeal of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, but it's all a game. There's a happy ending."

Moonves also revealed that he's not close to picking Rather's successor on the "CBS Evening News." He praised Bob Schieffer's job filling in.

He said he spoke to NBC's Katie Couric about the job, but noted Couric is under contract for a long time and he expects her to stay at "Today."

"We're looking at all sorts of things," he said. "This is a tough nut to crack. We're trying to change the world and it's not easy."

© 2005 The Associated Press

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