European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                From Kuralt to Osgood on a sunday morning by Elizabeth Aqlbert the new York times b behind Charles Osgood a desk a bumper sticker is pasted to the Wall. A Charles Kuralt a it says a should be  you done to mess with the King. Two months ago Osgood took Over from Kuralt As Anchor of sunday morning on lbs. At the time it was hard to imagine How anyone could supplant Kuralt and his comforting almost churchly approach to news. Now it is Clear that Osgood does not even intend to try. That May be the secret of his Early Success. A a it a too easy for people to say a he a sure no Charles Kuralt a a Osgood said in an interview at the lbs broadcast Center in new York City. A so the Best i can do is succeed him without attempting to replace him a a fans of sunday morning know that during the 15 years Kuralt was Host the program developed its own distinctive rhythm and tone. The stories were Long a almost epic by the standards of television a the pacing slow and the mood soothing. 1. The 90-minute show began with one ritual Kuralt standing next to a plexiglas Tower inscribed with the stories of the Day and ended with another nature shots accompanied by a buzzing chirping soundtrack. The format seemed tailored to Kuralt a rumbling voice and sad sack Demeanour. Now the show begins with Osgood standing next to the plexiglas Tower and ends with the buzzing and chirping. The format seems equally Well suited to his Rod Serling esque intonation and Dapper manner. Indeed when asked about potential alterations he seems uncomfortable As if merely by contemplating changes he could be accused of bad Faith. A i really have hot wanted to be at All heavy handed about trying to make this show be mine a Osgood said. A i feel As if its a terrific show the Way it is. There Are some Little things that i May look at but nothing major. I hate to even mention this because somebody a bound to feel threatened by anything that you say but in a not absolutely sure that the National weather is very useful a Early in the broadcast the Host always delivers a one to two minute Soliloquy on the National weather forecast not that Osgood 61, is actually planning to eliminate the National weather he is just thinking about it. Quot nobody has Ever complained about it a he said. A on the other hand people done to Stop you on the Street and say a boy i love that  a so far at least Osgood a hands off approach appears to have appeased the sunday morning Audi. Ence a group that tends to be older and presumably set in its ways. Slightly More than half of the shows audience is 55 or Over. For the first six weeks of Osgood a tenure the. Show averaged a 4.0 rating virtually unchanged from the same period a year ago. To lbs news fans Osgood a face a and his trademark Bow ties a were already familiar. He has served As Anchor of the sunday evening news As co Anchor of the morning news and has been a frequent contributor to the evening news. But it is his voice that is probably Best known. Every weekday morning Osgood delivers commentaries called the Osgood files on lbs radio. Sometimes the commentaries Are in prose sometimes in verse that Osgood himself Calls Doggerel. The commentaries a there Are four each morning a usually address some offbeat Story that Osgood read on the news wires or some equally offbeat Issue that happened to catch his attention. On a recent Friday morning for example Osgood offered a poem about a Watermelon truck that turned out to contain 2,500 pounds of cocaine mused on becoming a Parrett to a stretch of Asphalt through the adopt a Highway program and offered Praise for a Portland ore., police chief who moved with his family to a High crime neighbourhood. Finally he took up a Story about a Man whose  was broken when he wrestled with store clerks who had caught him shoplifting. The Man sued the store and was awarded $13,000 in damages. A people once used to say that crime does not pay a and at one time that was How it was a Osgood said. A but if crime did t pay in an earlier Day a these Days in the courtroom it  first Osgood file of the morning goes out at 6 25 . Osgood tries to go to bed by 9 . So he can get up by 2 30 . To prepare. He is used to this schedule he said As Are his wife and five children though he acknowledged a it does mean you re not quite in sync with everybody  Osgood a radio contract is reported to be one of the most lucrative in the business a somewhere in the High six figures a and Over the past two years it has been made that much More lucrative by the commercials that he reads during the broadcast for sponsors like total Cereal Rembrandt toothpaste and Northwest airlines. These commercials nearly prevented his becoming the Host of sunday morning lbs news ethical guidelines prohibit employees from endorsing products and the Host of sunday morning is a news employee. When Howard Stringer president of the lbs broadcast group first approached him about the Job Osgood said he told him that he was committed to doing the radio broadcasts and commercials. Faced with this dilemma Stringer who first met Osgood More than 25 years and decided to Grant him what is effectively an exemption. While this prompted some quiet grumbling Stringer said hews not concerned about setting a bad precedent. A a it a such a unique set of circumstances a he said. A i done to expect it to create any  for his part Osgood said a it is possible you can always devise a scenario a what if a what if it turns out that the toothpaste that you re advertising contains something that there a a news Story about a ,. But he s Iid that was too unlikely to worry about. For almost As Long As he can remember Osgood said he knew he wanted to go into radio. As a student at new Yorkus Fordham University he worked on the College station with Alan Alda then after a stint As the announcer for the . Army band he. Went to work for Abc radio where he was forced to drop his real last name Wood for his Middle name Osgood. The re was already a Charles Wood at the network. At Abc radio in the Early 1960s, he met another Young reporter named Ted Koppel. The two became friends and together proposed a morning show for Abc television that would have competed with no cd a today show. Osgood moved Over to cts radio when it became. Clear in his words that he a was no to going anywhere at Abc. He soon began to take on television news As Well filling in sometimes for Roger Mudd. His first love remains the radio he said. A if somebody were to say to me a what would an Ideal combination of radio and television be a Quot he said a i w Ould think Well How about four drive time commentaries and features you could do and then on sundays you could do an hour and a half sunday. -1 morning show a july 10, 1994 sunday Page 23