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I’ll be brief.

Tonight, “The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” changed the news program’s opening; the graphics were the same but the voice was different.

The network’s most celebrated anchor (even more than Edward R. Murrow) Walter Cronkite had introduced the network’s flagship broadcast since it began in September of 2006. It was a masterful piece of casting.

Tonight, CBS News President Sean McManus and Executive Producer Rick Kaplan used a new voice to introduce the program, actor Morgan Freeman.

Here is the audio for the new introduction.

Mr. Freeman did a passable job as an announcer and it’s said he’ll voice other CBS News programs as well, adding unity and flexibility to many CBS News broadcasts.

But Freeman is not Walter Cronkite whose voice upon that program bestowed a blessing and implied gravitas the likes of which cannot be measured by anything yet invented. No other network news program had or has anything like it. Suffice it to say Cronkite’s voice over on the program’s open was an invaluable asset.

McManus had indicated the program would lose Cronkite’s voice on the open in 2009 after the anchor man died but the Cronkite family allowed it to be used ever after, which (it was said at the time) made everyone happy at CBS News.

Evidently “everyone” lied.

The stupidest thing The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric ever did occurred tonight – it removed a pillar of broadcast journalism as the voice of the network’s primary news program and replaced it with someone else. It is not Freeman’s fault…no one could have replaced Cronkite’s perfect voice over.

No one should have.

Tags: announcers, CBS News, CBS Television Network, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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BUFFALO, NEW YORK, January 4, 2010 – – The Pathmark Grocery chain, with 144 stores across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, produced a series of radio commercials featuring voice over talent Peter K. O’Connell. The radio spots feature weekly specials and unique savings for Pathmark Advantage Club Card members.

Listen to a sample of the spots here:
[audio:http://www.audioconnell.com/clientuploads/mp3/Media_Release_Audio_Samples/100102_POConnell_Pathmark_sample.mp3]

Pathmark is part of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company’s family of supermarkets. The Company operates 435 stores in 8 states and the District of Columbia under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark, Best Cellars, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh and Food Basics.

A professional voice talent since 1982, some of Peter K. O’Connell’s professional voiceover credits include productions for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Shell Oil, Starz Cable Channel, New Jersey Alliance and New Jersey Tourism, J. Walter Thompson Advertising (JWT), 2K Games, Cleveland Browns, Tops Friendly Markets, Island Press Publishers, Harlequin Enterprises, First Choice Power, Bank of Tuscaloosa, Crosby Stills & Nash, Fashion Outlet Mall, Junior Chamber International, Peek N’ Peak Resort and Spa, Devaweb and The Advertising Club of Buffalo.

Peter is President of audio’connell Voice-Over Talent which provides English-speaking professional male and female voiceover services for national and international clients. The voice over needs of foreign language clients are served through another O’Connell-owned company, International Voice Talents. Mr. O’Connell also owns Voice Over Workshop, which provides professional voice over training to novice and experienced voice talent world-wide.

audio’connell Voice-Over Talent, International Voice Talents and Voice Over Workshop are all a part of O’Connell Communications, LLC.
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NOTES TO EDITORS

Company Media Releases ON LINE:
http://www.audioconnell.com/media

Company Name Pronunciation:
au·dio·o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-oh-kah-nel) or au·di-o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)

Company Name Spelling:
Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voice Over Talent

Company Web:
http://www.audioconnell.com

Company Blog:
http://www.voxmarketising.com

O’Connell Voice-Over Resume:
See resume here

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Tags: media releases by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Depending on what social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or FriendFeed you and I are connected on, you may see that today, January 1st is my birthday.

That is a big, fat bold-faced lie…and I am the one telling it. Thank you for your kindnesses anyway, I appreciate the spirit in which you sent the greetings.

You see on the internet, you can give away too much information in you’re not careful. A birthday is a lovely piece of important data that unscrupulous types on the net love to find cause they can cause some damage with it.

So I don’t list my real birthday and nobody on the net needs to know it anyway. January 1st is my cyber-birthday.

And if you want a sage piece of advice to start off the year, I’d tell you to start celebrating one too.

Tags: commentary by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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