Last week was particularly unfortunate for Viacom and its CBS network. Early in the week, CBS conceded that it had to retract a “60 Minutes” episode challenging the credibility of President Bush on his National Guard duty.

Later in the week, the Federal Communications Commission imposed more than $500,000 in penalties on CBS for the Super Bowl half time incident involving Janet Jackson. The week ended with CBS pulling the plug on a “60 Minutes” episode about weapons of mass destruction and the war in Iraq. CBS had invested many months of top talent on the program, but the story line apparently turns on the administration being duped by false documents, a sensitive topic at the network.

CBS is in disorganized retreat, and with it, its parent Viacom. The outcome should not be entirely surprising. In June, CEO Sumner Redstone announced that he would be retiring within two years. Succession plans focused on Tom Freston from the cable interests of Viacom and Les Moonves from the broadcasting side.

Protracted corporate succession plans such as the one announced by Mr. Redstone, and the one announced by Michael Eisner more recently at Disney, leave corporations with power struggles and rudderless direction. It sometimes matters less who is in charge than the mere fact that someone actually is in charge.

Mr. Redstone built a corporate empire by being indomitable in the seat of power. Just ask Mel Karmazin, the former head of CBS. But for the past week, Mr. Redstone has not been tightly gripping the reins of power. In interviews, Mr. Redstone has emphasized that he and other Viacom officials do not control the day-to-day operations of CBS News.

This statement is true, but it begs the question: Who is responsible for the series of bad decisions recently made at CBS News?

The first miscalculation was rushing to produce the “60 Minutes” program on President Bush’s National Guard record. A second miscalculation occurred when questions quickly arose about the authenticity of the underlying memorandum. Despite evidence to the contrary, CBS News repeatedly defended its work. With each passing hour, the reputation of CBS News became increasingly tarnished.

CBS made a third miscalculation in its retraction of the story. It wrapped itself in the mantle of victimhood, having been “misled” by sources. Of course, all news organizations speak with thousands of sources daily, many of which try to give false information. Responsible journalists sort through that information.

The mismanagement of the “60 Minutes” episode is maddening to anyone associated with CBS. As an indication of how uncontrolled the situation at CBS News is, Viacom has appointed an outside committee to review the incident with widely respected individuals such as the former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh.

A generation ago, polls showed that Walter Cronkite was the most trusted person in America. No one at CBS News, or in broadcast news generally, can begin to make that claim today.

Mr. Cronkite naturally had more than his share of political views, but he rarely expressed them on the air. And the production crews at CBS rarely put him in a position to make an enormous mistake. CBS takes far greater risks today.

Viacom is of course beset by other problems that challenge the entire broadcast network industry. The networks continually battle their affiliates. The television broadcast industry as a whole is losing viewers to cable and satellite services.

Advertising for broadcast television has not been as strong as expected in recent weeks. Adding to the weakness, a federal court cast a cloud over political advertising rules less than two months before the election.

But Viacom has problems of its own. For example, the FCC penalty for the Super Bowl broadcast is grounded in politics, not law. A confident and vigorous Viacom would challenge the FCC in court and would win. While Viacom may yet mount this defense, its slightest hesitation is cause for concern.

Viacom has been slow to react to recent events, appearing tentative and indecisive. Rebuilding the reputation of the once-proud CBS News organization should begin immediately. It needs leadership now. The company cannot afford to wait through two years of a protracted power struggle to determine who will succeed Mr. Redstone for that leadership.

Mr. Furchtgott-Roth, a former commissioner of the FCC, can be reached at hfr@furchtgott-roth.com.