Nate Burleson talks about hosting CBS Mornings in this behind-the-scenes tour

NEW YORK CITY (WWAY) — CBS Mornings airs weekday mornings on WWAY. Recently, we got a rare behind-the-scenes tour about how the Emmy-winning program is produced.

The show is broadcast live from Studio 1515 in Times Square. Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson host the broadcast.

“We have chemistry and we lean on that and it helps us get through the show,” Burleson said. “Gayle says it all the time, ‘You know, we have a front row seat to history and we have to allow the viewer to see the world around them.'”

But getting up early to prep for the show before it comes on at 7 a.m. isn’t easy.

“The caffeine helps in the morning because 4 a.m. comes around fast, and as you know, in this business, the hours are wild,” he said.

A former NFL player, Burleson not only hosts CBS Mornings, he’s also a football commentator.

“I balance it by just leaning more into who I really am — a guy who loves to talk about news and entertainment and sports and politics, worldly news, and I’m also a 40-year-old man who is married with kids,” Burleson said. “So, all of these things we are covering on a daily basis, are things we’re talking about inside my home.”

Providing news and information is what CBS Mornings gives it three million viewers each day. The show is known for breaking down the big stories of the day with analysis from a team of seasoned journalists like John Dickerson.

“What gives me meaning is taking something that is complicated and is affecting people’s lives and trying to break it down into something that can be explained,” Dickerson said. “That process of exploration and question asking and then also meaning making — trying to put it down into words and say it out loud — gives me a lot of purpose because, hopefully, people on the other end of that product when it comes out will have their days improved and get a sense of control from what we do.”

Along with the serious stories, the broadcast also offers a fair mix of lighthearted stories.

“We want to give them all the top stories and then at the tail end of the show have some fun, we want you to leave with a smile, too,” Burleson said. “These topics can get heavy, if it gets heavy for us, it can get heavy for the viewer, so we want to wrap that up with some uplifting news stories and CBS — we’re the best at telling stories.”

Perhaps one of the biggest stories of 2022 was the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. CBS Mornings Executive Producer Shawna Thomas was part of the crew sent to London to cover the story.

“I think CBS had some great contributors who really helped us get into what each moment meant,” Thomas said. “I personally really enjoy making that kind of television where you have lots of color and lots of things to tell the audience that they have never seen and the United Kingdom hadn’t seen something like it before because she had been on the throne for so long.”

CBS Mornings is also known for airing in-depth news stories.

On the day of my visit, Jim Axelrod was a guest on the show sharing what he learned from his interview with a former member of the Church of Scientology.

In the 1990’s, Axelrod worked in the Raleigh TV market covering the North Carolina General Assembly.

With the Midterm elections approaching, he says it’s important to learn as much as possible about the candidates and the issues before heading to the polls.

“The degree to which the voters are educated is the degree to which we will get a functioning government that is taking care of the citizens’ needs,” Axelrod said. “All I can say — educate yourself. Learn about the candidates. Learn about the issues. Hopefully, that will produce the most effective government we can have.”

Jonathan Vigliotti is another familiar guest of CBS Mornings. He is a CBS correspondent based in Los Angeles and often comes onto the show to promote stories appearing on CBS’s 48 Hours.

“When you watch a show like CBS Mornings, you’re going to get a story that’s up to six, sometimes even seven minutes long which is a rarity in the morning news world that exists today,” he said.

Patricia Riccardella has been with CBS News for 20 years. As CBS Mornings’ stage manager, she says there’s a tremendous amount of coordination among the camera operators and other members of the crew.

“There’s a lot going on, some days more than others,” she said. “Sometimes, we have elections stuff happening to bring set pieces in, move pieces out, move all the cameras. We usually have about two or three minutes to get a set change done.”

And if something or someone isn’t in place?

“They call me the mom,” Riccardella said. “I have to get my mom voice on sometimes and get everybody to the set but everybody knows the drill, everybody works independently, but I’m just here to keep everybody out of trouble. It’s my job.”

There are dozens of people like Riccardella working behind the scenes.

“I always deflect my compliments to the family of CBS,” Burleson said. “It’s the people that put this show on that allow us to do a good job.”

You can catch CBS Mornings, weekdays at 7 a.m., following WWAY’s Good Morning Carolina.