RonF Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Couric to Announce Her Move on 'Today' By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 5, 2006; Page C07 Katie Couric plans to confirm this morning on "Today" that she is leaving the top-rated morning show after 15 years, and CBS will quickly announce, probably today, that she will take over the anchor chair once occupied by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather. Couric, 49, decided yesterday to use the occasion of her 15th anniversary, when the NBC program will be reflecting on her tenure, to look forward to the next chapter in her career, said sources at both networks and people familiar with her thinking. The sources, who first confirmed Couric's plans Monday, had expected the CBS negotiations to drag on a bit longer, but said now the network has wrapped up the negotiations and wants to go public as soon as Couric does. Bob Schieffer, the current CBS anchor, who had made clear that he did not want to keep the job indefinitely, said yesterday: "I hope it is true. I've known Katie for many years; she's a first-rate reporter and a terrific interviewer. I love Katie and I think she'll love CBS News." The move by Couric, who will remain at "Today" until her NBC contract expires in May, will have repercussions throughout the broadcast schedule. NBC, which is determined to maintain its morning ratings lead, has offered her job to Meredith Vieira of ABC's "The View" and the syndicated "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," who is still weighing the opportunity against family concerns. CBS is making a multimillion-dollar bet that Couric, who would be the first solo female anchor of a weekday network newscast, can boost the third-place "CBS Evening News." Couric, who attracted enormous publicity while weighing her options, is said by those who know her to be brimming with ideas about how to adapt the evening newscast to her skills and personality. The "Today" retrospective at 7:30 this morning will feature video clips of Couric over the years, followed by her comments about her departure, and will have a less celebratory tone than otherwise would have been the case. Couric is close to NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker, her original producer on "Today," the sources said, and has been trying to manage her departure without hurting relationships with him and other longtime colleagues at NBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I mostly can't stand The Today Show, and I pretty much never watch the CBS Evening News. So this change is one I'll never even notice, for all practical purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 So you still find it weird to have women reporting evening news on tv (and actually putting together, choosing topics etc. etc) - *without* a male colleague next to her and fully in charge? Sort of third world tv, no? Are women allowed to vote, too? (They are even allowed to vote in - dig that! - Switzerland since - and dig that!!! - 1971!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 You know, Katie Couric went to the same high school as my wife, one year behind her. As long as Elizabeth Vargas is still anchoring ABC that's the one I'll watch when I get home early enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Ubu, 1971? Yikes, I did not know that - do you guys have electricity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Ubu, 1971? Yikes, I did not know that - do you guys have electricity? Well yes, and we've had anchor women on TV for years, and nothing's more normal than that... (but that 1971 *does* bug me! Even though I wasn't born then...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Shouldn't the headline read "CBS Evening News Jumps the Shark"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) What in the world is CBS thinking? They have to have been completely blinded by star power. I don't watch The Today Show, but I've seen Katie Couric on a number of occasions. She's fine for what she does, but at least IMO, she lacks the gravitas and the hard news background to anchor a network newscast. Perky and cute isn't gonna get this one done. I'd guess that inside a year, CBS will long for the days when they had Bob Schieffer behind the wheel. Interestingly enough, I just watched "Good Night and Good Luck" last night. Paley, Friendly, Murrow and that bunch must be collectively spinning in their graves. Up over and out. Edited April 5, 2006 by Dave James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I know millions of people still watch those half hour network news broadcasts but I haven't seen a complete one in at least 10 years. To me they seem like quaint relics from the 60s, when people had to wait until 6.30 or 7 pm to find out what was happening in the world, (or what a handful of producers in NY and Washington decided that the viewers should know about) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 This either demonstrates how clueless the CBS News management is or the general decline of network news. I have yet to see a female anchor woman who can hold a candle to Linda Ellerbe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonF Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I hear Rachael Ray is waiting in the wings at NBC News. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I actually still try and watch the CBS Evening News on a regular basis (probably just habit... my parents always did), and I like Dan Rather and think Bob Schiefer has done a fantastic job. I just can't see someone like Couric working, but who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 What in the world is CBS thinking? They have to have been completely blinded by star power. I don't watch The Today Show, but I've seen Katie Couric on a number of occasions. She's fine for what she does, but at least IMO, she lacks the gravitas and the hard news background to anchor a network newscast. Perky and cute isn't gonna get this one done. I'd guess that inside a year, CBS will long for the days when they had Bob Schieffer behind the wheel. Exactly. I asked my wife to picture Katie Couric gravely looking into the camera and announcing, "The World Trade Center has been struck by two passenger airliners" and there was no way my wife could imagine it. The first truly major news event, CBS will regret this move. Can't wait to see Rainy Day come out of the shadows to berate us as sexist pigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 (edited) I can picture it. It's gonna happen whether we can imagine it or not. Headline News & CNN have female anchors already (probably some of the other channels do as well). I can picture (and have seen) Rudi Bahktiar, Robin Meade, and Christi Paul sharing serious information. I think Couric will be fine. edit - I tend to agree with Randy Twizzle too though. It's a rare night that I actually watch the CBS/ABC/NBC evening news. If I want to see what's going on, I'll either check one of the news channels, or go online. Edited April 5, 2006 by Aggie87 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Berger Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Don't really care either way. Television is the worst way to get news. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Dan Gould: "Can't wait to see Rainy Day come out of the shadows to berate us as sexist pigs." This time, at least, she won't be able to play her race card! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Exactly. I asked my wife to picture Katie Couric gravely looking into the camera and announcing, "The World Trade Center has been struck by two passenger airliners" and there was no way my wife could imagine it. The first truly major news event, CBS will regret this move. The Today show is exactly what I was watching on the morning of 9/11. I think she'll do just fine. I don't really watch network news in the evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonF Posted April 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I actually still try and watch the CBS Evening News on a regular basis (probably just habit... my parents always did), and I like Dan Rather and think Bob Schiefer has done a fantastic job. I just can't see someone like Couric working, but who knows? My folks watched CBS too and I've watched Schiefer since Rather left and agree he's been good. The old network format of squeezing the news of the day into 22 minutes still seems so archaic. Like anything else, Couric will have to stand the test of time to gain any credibility. It's a hell of stretch for me but she might prove the critics wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I watch The News Hour, PBS when I can. Satisfying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I watch The News Hour, PBS when I can. Satisfying. Agreed 100%. I'm also quite addicted to the McLaughlin Group on Friday nights. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 I can picture it. It's gonna happen whether we can imagine it or not. Headline News & CNN have female anchors already (probably some of the other channels do as well). I can picture (and have seen) Rudi Bahktiar, Robin Meade, and Christi Paul sharing serious information. I think Couric will be fine. I'm not denying that women can report hard news or major/catastrophic events. What I am questioning is perky, smiling-all-the-time Katie Couric doing it. Its certainly interesting that when NBC was making a decision on replacing Brokaw, the powers-that-be talked about the "Voice of God" anchor with the requisite gravitas being the person that people would seek out on major news events, and that Brian Williams will have to grow into that. But he practically said "women need not apply". Now CBS, in a desperate attempt to lift the horrible ratings, is going straight for star power, regardless of background or public persona. I'd be willing to bet that folks will definitely tune in to see how she does, but when the shitte inevitably hits the fan, I seriously doubt that Katie has the chops and they'll desert her in droves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Shouldn't the headline read "CBS Evening News Jumps the Shark"? That's pretty funny, Chuck, but I think CBS jumped the shark quite some time ago. When I lived in Atlanta, about ten years ago, Rush Limbaugh at one in the morning had better Nielsen ratings than Dan Rather at 6:30 in the evening. I don't think Katie Couric will be any worse than any of the other babes reading the news. She's intelligent. When I was a kid, the TV networks got their news people from newspapers; but for the past twenty years they have gotten them from local TV news channels. So I think both the men and the women lack the smarts to be good at the job. Nowadays they're just pretty faces. But in regard to Couric, she's one more liberal. While the liberals divide their audience among the three networks, PBS and CNN, Fox News has the conservative audience all to itself. So I don't think that Roger Ailes is shaking in his boots over this, but the folks at ABC might be concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 But... The evening news anchor can't show any leg, and that's been a big part of Katie's schtick from the git-go. I myself have no problem with that... I do think she has anchor chops, with or without the abilty to show leg. What I don't think CBS has is anywhere near the organization to back her (or any anchor) up with comprehensive reporting. The organization's been systematically gutted over the last 10-15 years and is but a shell of its former self. It's tragic, really, because that shop used to be the finest in the world afaic. But no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 Don't really care either way. Television is the worst way to get news. Guy Disagree completely. TV may not be the best way to get in-depth reporting (and perhaps even accuracy) but it's the best way to get breaking news and "you are there" coverage of an event. What, you'd rather wait up to 24 hours to read about it in the paper, a week for a magazine report, or even longer for the book? Radio has more limitations than TV, imo, and the internet has little credibility when it comes to breaking news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted April 5, 2006 Report Share Posted April 5, 2006 This either demonstrates how clueless the CBS News management is or the general decline of network news. I have yet to see a female anchor woman who can hold a candle to Linda Ellerbe. Why would you want someone to burn Linda Ellerbe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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