Robert Ferrante, News-Driven Producer at CBS and NPR, Dies at 87

After 11 years at WGBH, Mr. Ferrante was employed by CBS Information in 1982 to create and function government producer of “Nightwatch,” broadcast from 2 a.m. to six a.m. Japanese time. “It’s all the things I ever wished to do,” he advised The Globe earlier than “Nightwatch” began. He added, “We’ll chase the solar, or meet it coming the opposite means, relying on the place we’ll be coming from ourselves.”

He spent lower than a yr overseeing this system earlier than CBS Information shifted him to the “CBS Morning Information” (now “CBS Mornings”), the perennially ratings-challenged competitor of NBC’s “At the moment” present and ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Quickly afterward CBS reduce “Nightwatch” to 2 hours; it later existed in different codecs as “As much as the Minute” and “CBS In a single day Information.”

Invoice Kurtis, who was then internet hosting “CBS Mornings Information” with Diane Sawyer, recalled in an interview that Mr. Ferrante “pulled us collectively and stated that we had a mission — not first to get scores however to do a very good job representing CBS Information, after which the scores would come.”

Scores did rise, however then fell, forcing Mr. Ferrante off the present and right into a senior producer’s job within the information division’s particular occasions unit. Jon Katz changed him.

“Nobody’s mission succeeded there,” Mr. Kurtis stated. “Not mine, not his, not Jon Katz’s.”

Mr. Ferrante left CBS Information amid layoffs in 1985 and shortly joined the Democratic Nationwide Committee as its director of communications. However he was dismissed earlier than the 1988 Democratic Nationwide Conference amid journalists’ complaints about safety preparations, credentials and work area.

When NPR employed him a yr later for “Morning Version,” he returned to producing information, which he did for the remainder of his profession.

Along with his spouse and daughter, Mr. Ferrante is survived by his stepdaughter, Whitney Otto; his stepson, Tyler Publish; and eight grandchildren. A earlier marriage, to Anne Basti, led to divorce.