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May 26, 2012

I owe Katie Couric an apology

by Bob Sassone, posted Oct 18th 2006 1:21PM

Katie CouricLike everyone else in the media universe, I was unfairly harsh to Katie Couric and the new CBS Evening News. At first, I said it was OK (based on a whopping one episode), and then after two weeks I gave the show a thumbs down. But I've been thinking about something lately.

What's the rush?

I know we live in a "it-must-be-a-hit-immediately" TV world now, and that's why so many shows are cancelled by the networks instead of nurtured or moved to a better time slot. But the evening news isn't like that. CBS is not going to look at the numbers (Katie was #1 the first week, now she has settled into a definite third) and say "No, we made a terrible mistake!" Couric is the anchor, period, and she's going to be there for a very long time.

I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks, and this article confirms it. CBS actually planned for Couric's show to start off with a bang, because people were curious about her, and then it would settle into the same place it was when Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer were behind the desk (Brian Williams is usually #1 and Charlies Gibson #2). They knew this was going to happen, it's just the media (including me, sorry Katie) moves so fast now that we watch, review, and judge before something is given a chance. (This doesn't mean the show doesn't need work, but we're only a month into it.)

Something doesn't have to be #1 to be a hit. I mean, really, do you think that putting anyone in that CBS anchor seat would turn the numbers around? I doubt it. People get attached to their newscasts, and Williams is #1, just like Brokaw was #1 before him. Gibson is #2, just like Jennings was #2 before him. It's just the way things are, and I don't think Couric should be judged a "failure" just because the show is in the same place it's been in for a while.

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Jim

"Man up and say it.. she sucks."

She doesn't suck. Network news does.

"A lot of haters overlook the main thing: what Katie is doing is HISTORIC."

What *really* would have been historic would have been for Les Moonves to pull the plug on the 6:30 news.

October 18 2006 at 9:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
TVGenius

Even with the changes that were made, you can't expect ratings to
change drastically overnight, or in two months for that matter. It
takes time for viewers to change their minds, whether it be disliking
ABC or NBC's offering, or deciding that CBS is better. How are her
numbers compared to Evening News before the Memogate issue? Or when
Schieffer first took over?

October 18 2006 at 7:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stephen Waits

Man up and say it.. she sucks.

October 18 2006 at 5:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Walt

Katie is a very good news reader. She is a fair interviewer. Katie hasn't shown any reason to have us believe she's a serious journalist.

And what's more, I'm fine with that. Bob Schiefer was a terrific newsman, but I feel his efforts were wasted as the lead newsman on the CBS Nightly News. You simply don't need much more than a pretty face delivering the news behind the desk. Otherwise, why turn on the news at all?

I don't mean to be cynical, but face it: News today is formed by the folks who write what is written on the teleprompter, not by the person reading it. Live news, the type that exists and is reported on in dangerous parts of the globe is reported on by real newspeople.

Putting a journalist behind the main desk on the nightly news is a mistake.

Paying someone $15 million to make it look like someone shiny is the newsperson, like CBS did with Katie is perfectly acceptable. Sure, Katie will do the occasional 60 Minutes special, but again, she's great for interviewing. But I wouldn't listen to her actual opinion for 25 seconds before switching the channel.

October 18 2006 at 5:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sam

I'll agree with poster 1. You don't pay someone $15 million a year for the show to be stuck in traction ratings-wise. You pay for improvement. In that sense, this has been an abject failure.

October 18 2006 at 5:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Robert Harken

(retyping,misspelled my own email address ) Katie is the type I would love for a neighbor but do not like to watch on tv. Even after years of experience, she is still extremely amateurish.She makes the most serious stories seem trivial or downright silly. Katie's giggles are alwaysill-timed or innappropriate. She did help me to catch a lot of Good Morning America though now I'm back with Today after too much wimpy Diane and butch Robin. I don't care how long the poor fools at CBS allow for Katie to catch on, I'll never even know as I'm sticking with Charlie Gibson.

October 18 2006 at 3:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dwacon_com

A lot of haters overlook the main thing: what Katie is doing is HISTORIC.

--
dwacon
http://dwacon.blogspot.com

October 18 2006 at 3:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Steve

"Spin, Spin, Sugar..."

I didn't know that CBS liked the Sneaker Pimps.

October 18 2006 at 3:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Shirley Booth

I applaud your new insight. You're right. I work in TV and even I was like, "How sad, it's a failure now." But you're absolutely right. I have been on shows that are not necessarily #1, but the network always has target ratings, which are much lower than #1 for new shows. You could even be #4, but hit the target they had, and they would be pleased. I've been there, so it's completely possible that CBS is happy with Couric and not upset by the slip in ratings.

October 18 2006 at 2:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kevin Harris

I think it would be great if you would include both WWE Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown and ECW and Total Non Stop Wrestling.Thank you.Kevin Harris.

October 18 2006 at 2:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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