On the set: ‘CBS This Morning’

The show is up an impressive 20% in total viewers compared with the same time last year and is performing particularly well in Los Angeles, where it’s up about 60% in total households -- no small feat, given how entrenched morning TV habits tend to be.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

“CBS This Morning” launched in January 2012 with the ambitious goal of providing “a more thoughtful, substantive and insightful” alternative in morning television.   (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

Thirteen months after it launched, “CBS This Morning” remains a distant third behind “Today” and “Good Morning America,” averaging about 2.65 million viewers when it airs from 7 to 9 a.m. weekdays.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

“CBS This Morning” has established itself as a destination for newsmakers not found in the pages of Us Weekly.   (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

White House correspondent Norah O’Donnell, right, joined the show in July, burnishing the show’s hard-news credentials.   (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

The longtime friendship of Gayle King, right, with Oprah Winfrey comes in handy: In January, Winfrey confirmed on “CBS This Morning” that Lance Armstrong had confessed to doping during an interview.   (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

Senior correspondent John Miller describes the three hosts this way: “Charlie always asks the questions that nobody else would have thought of. Norah probes in to make sure the answer they gave is actually true, and then Gayle asks the question that every viewer sitting back wanted to know.”   (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

The show just celebrated its first anniversary.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

The show is filmed at CBS Studios in Manhattan.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

“CBS This Morning” has no weather person, no cooking segments and no outdoor plaza lined with fans.   (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)

“CBS This Morning” has also avoided becoming what executive producer Chris Licht calls “a cult of personality” program -- one where the hosts become the story. “That’s why you wouldn’t see a ‘Charlie-and-Gayle-try-this’ segment,” he says.  (Jennifer S. Altman / For the Los Angeles Times)