AOL Users, You've Got Dan (Rather)

AOL might have a new message for the Internet: You've got Dan.

The Time Warner-owned Internet company is in negotiations with representatives for veteran CBS anchor Dan Rather to play a role in original programming for its online video offerings, sources said.

If a deal is struck, AOL will be just one of several projects Rather has lined up for his post-CBS career. In addition to an announcement he is expected to make Tuesday at the Television Critics Assn. press tour regarding a programming venture with cable network HDNet, he also will make at least two appearances on NBC Universal's syndicated "The Chris Matthews Show."

Rather's camp declined comment. It isn't clear what Rather would do at AOL, though discussions between Rather and AOL have taken place in recent weeks. AOL confirmed late Monday that it had discussions with Rather but wouldn't discuss details.

The prospect of a TV news icon transitioning from broadcast to broadband would mark a milestone for new media, which is beginning to rival mainstream television for eyeballs and advertisers. It also would boost an already robust AOL News division, which under the leadership of Lewis D'Vorkin, an AOL veteran and former senior editor at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, has built a following on the Web.


Rather's hiring also would be a telling indicator of the future of AOL, which reportedly is repositioning its entire business away from being an Internet service provider and toward establishing itself as a full-fledged advertiser-supported portal in competition with Yahoo! Inc., Google and MSN.

While Internet portals have made more deals for original programming in the entertainment space than with original news coverage, it is not unprecedented. One of Yahoo!'s first video programming efforts featured Kevin Sites, a war correspondent previously of NBC and CNN, traveling to hot spots around the globe. "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" has been online since fall 2005.

Following several weeks of vacation after leaving CBS, Rather has been and will continue to be busy. Beyond the AOL and HDNet gigs, Rather will be part of the roundtable discussion on "Chris Matthews" the next two Sundays. Rather will offer analysis and commentary as part of the four-journalist panel.

"Chris Matthews" executive producer Nancy Nathan said Monday that the show was happy to snag the former CBS News anchor. It apparently came up when Matthews ran into Rather at a dinner recently.

"They've been friends for a long time," Nathan said. "Chris is a big fan."

Both episodes will be taped Friday in Washington, as Matthews will be away next week. Rather will get paid scale for his appearances, just like any of the other nearly 30 rotating journalists who appear on the show.

There's no talk of having Rather appear regularly on the show, though Nathan would love to have him come back.

Rather will appear Wednesday on "Larry King Live."

It will be Rather's second appearance on CNN in a week; he was a guest on "Anderson Cooper 360" last Wednesday night in a segment on North Korea. One of Rather's last assignments for "60 Minutes" was a trip to North Korea.

Rather caused a stir when he insisted CNN not identify him as a "former CBS News anchor" or even mention that he had worked at the network where he spent 44 years. It isn't clear whether the same restriction will apply on "Larry King Live."

Nathan said she wasn't sure whether "Chris Matthews" would identify Rather as a former CBS News anchor.

"He and I haven't talked about that. The world knows he's a famous CBS person, but in terms of how we (identify) him on the screen, that hasn't been decided yet," Nathan said.

Rather's HDNet gig would entail hosting a weekly hourlong documentary and interview show on the high-definition channel. An e-mail message to HDNet's Mark Cuban wasn't returned Monday.

To date, AOL News has relied mostly on partnerships with established news organizations including CBS, ABC, CNN, Associated Press and Reuters for video and news coverage.

AOL News is one of the most visited news sources on the Internet, according to data obtained from Comscore Networks. In June, AOL News received 20.9 million unique visitors, a 2 percent decrease from the same frame a year ago. Only Yahoo! News (27.6 million) and MSNBC (27.3 million) reach more visitors than AOL, which ranks higher than CNN (21.1 million).

The online video news category is getting increasingly competitive as well, given that such traditional publishing companies as the New York Times and the Washington Post have ramped up video coverage on their own sites. The Emmys recently inaugurated a broadband news and documentary programming category that was dominated by newspapers.

AOL's overall video programming strategy has relied on a mix of original product, like celebrity news site TMZ.com and performance showcase AOL Music Sessions, with library product like archived TV series available on In2TV.

AOL has proven it can attract mass audiences with video offerings. Its Live 8 concert special in July 2005 was one of the most-viewed online-based programs in Internet history.