Richard Leibner, a powerful agent whose firm brokered contracts for many of the biggest names in television news, including Dan Rather, Diane Sawyer, Anderson Cooper, Ed Bradley, Morley Safer and Steve Kroft, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan.
His son Jonathan said the cause was kidney cancer.
Mr. Leibner’s firm, N.S.
Bienstock — named for one of its founders, Nathan Bienstock — represented hundreds of anchors, reporters, producers and others in network and local television news.
The negotiation that grabbed the biggest headlines was for Mr. Rather, then one of the star correspondents of the CBS News program “60 Minutes.”Between late 1979 and early 1980, Mr. Leibner (pronounced LEEB-ner) parlayed interest in Mr. Rather as the evening anchor from all three network news divisions: ABC News, whose president, Roone Arledge, was trying to raise his third-place division’s profile; NBC News, where the evening anchor John Chancellor was hoping to change to a commentary role; and CBS News, where Walter Cronkite had been the evening anchor since 1962.
Persons:
Richard Leibner, Dan Rather, Diane Sawyer, Anderson Cooper, Ed Bradley, Morley, Steve Kroft, Jonathan, Leibner’s, Bienstock —, Nathan Bienstock —, Rather, Leibner, Roone Arledge, John Chancellor, Walter Cronkite
Organizations:
CBS, ABC, NBC
Locations:
Manhattan