Katie Couric has not helped CBS News’ ratings, the New York Times reported. It’s still in third place, and ratings continue to dwindle. CBS producers had hoped that Couric, as well as a spiffed-up broadcast, would attract younger viewers. Though it did draw in younger women, her sunny, morning-show disposition hasn’t drawn many traditional hard-news lovers.
But speculation over whether a woman delivering the news has stunted ratings is laughable and sounds like something from "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."
It’s not that Couric is a woman; it’s that she isn’t the right woman for the job.
Posted by Andie Clum
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50 Comments
My wife brought it up to me a month ago that Katie was being axed. I likes her. I thought her CNN turn-the-tables interview of Larry King was smashing.
But the CBS Evening News serves the older, Lipitor, Dulcolax segment of the population. The Evening News needs someone with gravitas. Like how about Jane Pauley?
I guess I need to get onboard with Lipitor, then.
I never understood why CBS thought trading Bob Schieffer for Katie Couric would in any way help their news broadcast.
Schieffer is just a class act. Old, but so what. To me he’s the news version of sport’s Frank Buck (StL Cards) or Denny Matthews (Royals). Not much flash a half-hour at a time; it’s only in the long run when you realize how highly you value each’s skills.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Couric (I guess), but trading Schieffer for her was, imo and as ksfrmgrrl likes to say, like jumping over the dime to find a penny.
PBS has some good female news people – Charlene Hunter-Galt comes to mind. Also Gwin Iffel (sp?) on Washington Week.
They might not be ‘cute’ and ‘perky’ but they are serious news people.
Yeah, what Ben said – I like those two female broadcasters from PBS.
Schieffer is a class act…CBS had a guaranteed audience with Schieffer and just blew it when they brought in Couric.
Interesting connections between Bush and Bob Schieffer’s brother…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Schiefferhttp://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Thomas_Schieffer
Ya think the problem isn’t who delivers the news, but with the credibility of CBS news generally, after Rather got caught with the hand in the proverbial cookie jar? Expecting a perky face to fix that is simply putting icing on a turd and claiming it’s a brownie.
I think they were hoping that all of those people who watch the Today show (it is the number one morning show) would follow her to CBS to watch her in the evening but that obviously didn’t happen. I liked her on Today, but she’s not that great and I am definitely a creature of habit so I’m not likely to start watching a completely different channel like that. Plus, I think her perkiness and obvious attempt at youthfulness is kind of a slap in the face of their current viewers. I used to work at a TV station and it is amazing how picky people are about news anchors and how they look.
I think that’s wishful thinking on your part gmc. As time goes on, a lot of folks see the bushco pattern and fingerprints all over the Dan Rather firing. I know you dont, but many do.
I dont mind Katie or her personality. What I do mind are the inane changes made to the broadcast, and the dumbing down of news as entertainment.
You could have St. Walter delivering that crap and it STILL wouldnt fly.
And these days, we have a choice about where we get our news. And more and more of us get it from the internet.
Maybe CBS should try hiring from the pool of netroots activists.
Sorry, still thinking. I think this is also partly an overreaction to the Dan Rather thing.
CBS is so desperate for viewer demographics and market share that they went too far not to be a “big bad news org” that so many said they were. They went for soft and cute and cuddly.
Heheheh. How’s THAT workin’ for them?
KFG -
You’d see “bushco fingerprints” if a meteor fell to earth on your back 40. You see what you want to see.
You are right, GMC, I would.
And if it were just me, you would have a point. But these patterns of “smear your opponent” and having supporting documents disappear, (like some of bush’s military records and his drivers license records), dont help matters any.
The bush crime family has a way of silencing people who are not loyal to them. And mc rove has proven there is no depth to which he will plunge on behalf of his “permanent republican majority”.
Nixon’s dirty tricksters got nothing on the BFEE. And again, I’m not the only one who thinks so.
And GMC? I think I could also fairly say, bush could fart on you and you’d think it smelled like roses.
Like me, you also see what you want.
Younger viewers?No way, most of the younger viewers are too busy with other things than to be watching what their parents watch; besides how mature do you think they are?
I would be considered a younger viewer and I watch the news at least 3 times a day.
In fact, I watch the news more than my parents do.
The average age for the network news at 6:00 is 60 years old. They are not in the least interested in some “perky” twit giving them news. They want an old grump like Schiefer or a grown up like Gibson.
The perkys are for Cable news and their 45 second attention span demographics and their loud childish swirling graphics run by local teenagers and his new Mac.
Or Susan Peters with her incessantly shrieking “Seen Only on KAKE”
If you want news in context and get some actual facts then its only on Lehrer on PBS or CSPAN.
Otherwise its only the most recent MWG (Missing White Girl) or the media showing us that dry grass will burn really really fast, with hours of endless fire coverage.
Or local TV here with 2 hrs of storm coverage of it raining in McCook NE.
I’m a younger person… I do watch the news, but im partial to ABC’s World News, I tend to like the different types of stores he runs. But I also spend twice as much time watching or reading news online as I spend watching on TV. I realize that each station, especially the locals, have their own agenda. I do enjoying FUX news just so I can laugh that the rhetoric spewing from their mouths…
mrbill – agreed.
On a Wolfowitz thread I posted a good defense of him that I lifted from the PBS NewsHour site. Rather than having the ‘news-guy’ tell me the story they had former UN ambassador Andrew Young. Someone who knows the issue inside and out. That is something you definitely do NOT get on soundbite news.
Anyone seen Naked News? Now there is a news show that we can agree can attract some viewers and raise the attentions of all ages…
I’ve just always watched NBC, I think it’s because that’s what my parents watched when I was young so I kind of stuck with it. Plus, I worked at an NBC affiliate so that probably didn’t hurt anything. But I also read a lot of it online too. And obviously I read the Eagle online… I will admit that I am kind of an anomaly among many people my age, but to stereotype all “young’uns” as uninterested in the news and current events would be a gross misrepresentation.
I remember Melissa Beck at KSN became Melissa McDermott who anchored the CBS late night news for years.
She was hot and that helps bring in viewers. But she was serious when news was bad, great depth of character.
She left CBS, don’t know where.
Going after Couric was one thing, but replacing her if she’s off to write a book or get married again, CBS might call Melissa and offer her the 5:30 job.
ABC and NBC have the guys, nothing new with them.
Get to the news and be done with it. Too much “celebrity” drags things down.
I do like how ABC just starts the news without a big advertisement of the show. CBS should drop the big lead in for Couric.
Stop those interviews in chairs. Sit at the desk and talk.
That’s one nice thing that NBC w/ Brian Williams has been trying lately is only using one sponsor so they use less commercials meaning more time for the news. It’s kind of nice but they’ve only done it a couple times and I don’t know if it will actually become a practice.
“And GMC? I think I could also fairly say, bush could fart on you and you’d think it smelled like roses.
“Like me, you also see what you want.” [or smell what he wants to smell]
There is a body of scientific evidence to support this truth of which you speak. I appreciate you being honest enough to say it. GMC, despite himself, is also sometimes honest enough to fess up to his pre-conceptions.
The term used to describe these “smell what you want to smell inclinations” are mental or cognitive heuristics. These are short-cuts or rules of thumb which are generally helpful. But they are not helpful when there is either a MC Rove or PT Barnum on every corner trying to sell you a load of shit. And in the sales pitch is a well researched appeal to your inclinations and biases.
Sorry another commericial for a well-done book:
_UnSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation_ by Jackson and Jamieson
The biggest surprise for me from this book is how often Bush and his policies fell victim to disinformation attacks. I came away thinking ‘there really is Karma operating in the world today.’
KFG -
“And GMC? I think I could also fairly say, bush could fart on you and you’d think it smelled like roses.”
While certainly we all see the world through our own rose-colored glasses, it’s clear that you don’t know me as well as you think you do. Cite any writings of mine where I have backed this administration repeatedly and blindly. I don’t think you’ll find it.
I simply don’t have the blind knee-jerk Bush Derangement Syndrome you’ve displayed (and apparantly admit to) so often.
If the news wants to be taken seriously it needs to drop the tabloid bullshit. Like why is Anna Nicole still in the News, or in the news in the first place?Who cares that Paris Hilton’s going to jail and what has Paris actually done that merits a mention in the News
Perhaps they ought to bring back Dan Rather. Regardless of what he did, I dont think he deserved the sack for it.
Too bad Cronkite isn’t doing too well these days, i’d like to see him do the news again.
The TV network news make me sick to watch so I don’t watch. They run constant ads for drugs. I need Lipitor for my heart. Lunesta so I can sleep, Celebrex for my arthritus, the other stuff for “Restless Leg Syndrome” and on and on. I started to feel like I was in my doctor’s office! So I quit watching it.
Lets face it, there were people upset that she was put in the anchor position in the first place. They wanted her to fail from the get-go. CBS did something innovative, put a woman, a fresh face out there to try to attract younger viewers. Unfortunately it didn’t work. People wanted her to do badly. They made it happen. Self fulfilling prophesy. So sad.
It is also sad that Tony believes that sexualizing women is the way to get viewers. It’s probably true, but what does that say about our culture? Show me some hooters, and I’ll entertain the idea you might have a brain?
Melissa Beck was hot? Her voice sounded like chalk squeaking against the chalkboard. Made my dog howl every time.
Melissa McDermott was hot in 2006, haven’t seen her since. She divorced Todd McDermott some net report said.
There used to be a female anchor on CNN headline news name Lynne Russell who was both professional and classy.
http://www.lynnerussell.com/gallery/pages/lynnecnn8×10_jpg.html
I totally agree with Tom, I can’t stand to watch the “news” because of all the focus on pop culture instead of important events that really affect our lives….BBC news is a bit better, my cable used to air World News International, which was the best, but because it was serious coverage of ALL world events, it probably didn’t get the ratings and was dropped. The sad truth is the networks only give people what they want to see and hear…when they broke into regular programming to announce the death of Anna Nicole Smith, I realized what sorry shape our country is really in. I can’t begin to tell you how depressed and disgusted I get about it.
I get my news from NPR.
Couric was hired because she was female. The decision had nothing to do with how fit she was for the job.
That said, CBS news is in the toilet because NO one trusts them to report the “facts”. As seen from Dan Rather and his producers inability and unwillingness to retract their specious report “Rathergate” about Pres. Bush’s guard service, they have lost any creditability they had.
The networks continue to produce and air biased reports. Their anchors and reporters don’t even know the word “objective” and have only a passing acquaintance with facts. This is why they are losing viewers and they are not losing them to the other networks (except for Fox). They are losing them to the internet, where people can get the who, what, where then and how as well as several different ideas about why (not just their ideas)
Anyone who thinks Fox News is fair and balanced needs their head examined by a competent psychiatrist.
All the networks news basically have the same news, except Fox who will steadfastly defend Bush’s policies no matter what.
And as for Dan Rather, I think maybe the 70% majority of Americans who now disapprove of George W. Bush would give Dan Rather the benefit of the doubt when it came to reporting any underhanded dirty deal that GWB was involved in.
cat:
I’d agreee . . . if there was any doubt as to the forgery of the “documents” Rather proclaimed proved his infamous scoop. There isn’t any doubt whatsoever. And it was a bad forgery at that, one that any journalist worth the label would have recognized. But it fit his agenda, so he didn’t see what was in front of him.
I don’t think Rather set out to knowingly pawn forged documents. The documents were what he wanted to find, so he looked through his own “rose-colored glasses” and, well, got caught with his agenda down.
I was shocked that John Roberts didn’t get tha anchor job.I thinkhe was too.Maybe that’s why he’son CNN now.
Get Katie out from under that desk, dress her up in those short skirts and stilletos like on today show and see the ratings climb.
My mind is like an empty room. Nothing seems worth thinking about. More or less not much noteworthy happening worth mentioning, but it’s not important. I guess it doesn’t bother me. I’ve just been letting everything wash over me lately.
People should be allowed to go naked in certain recreational areas only – Or specify those areas and you have another persuasive speech topic
I’ve just been letting everything pass me by , but so it goes. I just don’t have much to say these days. Pfft. I can’t be bothered with anything. More or less nothing seems worth doing. I haven’t gotten much done recently, but oh well.
Buyers of guns must take gun-safety courses
I feel like a fog, not that it matters. I’ve pretty much been doing nothing , but eh. Today was a loss. I haven’t gotten much done for a while.
I haven’t been up to much recently, but whatever. I just don’t have much to say lately. Basically nothing happening to speak of. So it goes. My mind is like a complete blank. Such is life.
Males should be allowed to go shirtless at home only – Or vary with places for another persuasive speech topic
Blame the parents of a murderer parents for the crime
Help the homeless down the street and persuade them to look for work
My life’s been completely unremarkable recently. I haven’t been up to anything. I just don’t have much to say. I’ve just been letting everything pass me by. Shrug. I don’t care.
I feel like a fog, not that it matters. I’ve pretty much been doing nothing , but eh. Today was a loss. I haven’t gotten much done for a while.