[abe]

I don't hate her but she's not my favorite. Maybe it has to do with her politics.

All I know is that I really like Bob Scheiffer and if he leaves the CBS Evening News I'll have to find something else to do in that part of the evening.

Couric leaves, but will her viewers follow?

‘Today’ veteran will have to fight perceptions as she takes CBS anchor slot

COMMENTARY
By Michael Ventre
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 10:14 a.m. ET April 5, 2006

Is too much weight given to gravitas?

Maybe the purists who are grumbling that Katie Couric doesn’t have the journalistic chops to take a seat once occupied by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather are burying the lead.

This is no longer about playing to readers of Editor & Publisher or the Columbia Journalism Review. This is about jazzing up the product so the stockholders don’t mutiny.

CBS will plunk Couric into its anchor chair for “The CBS Evening News” and also throw her a “60 Minutes” bone primarily to raise the entertainment value of its news division.

The problem, of course, is whether the folks who tune in to watch the evening news really want that. The guess here: probably not.

Perceptions are hard to shatter. Dennis Miller was an accomplished yukster on the club circuit and on talk shows. But when ABC tried to stick him into the “Monday Night Football” booth, viewers squawked that he had no business there. They didn’t want a fawning fan, and they didn’t want wisecracks on a big third-and-10 with 2:13 remaining.


David Letterman probably shouldn’t have done “Cabin Boy.” Rosanne Barr made an error in judgment by mangling the national anthem at a Padres game. Magic Johnson was unwise to have hosted his own late-night talk show.

Obviously, Couric’s move from NBC’s “Today” show to the “CBS Evening News” is not so drastic a departure. While critics zero in on her cooking segments, her celebrity interviews and her chiseled gams, they should also note that she has paid her dues in journalism and has as much reporting experience in hard news as any of her contemporaries.

(MSNBC.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC.)

But it almost doesn’t matter, because in this domain perception trumps qualifications. CBS is bringing her on not because she is a better reporter than Bob Schieffer, the man who currently occupies the job and who, by the way, has enjoyed a ratings spike during his brief tenure. They’re bringing her in to create star buzz.

In the short term, it will probably be a success. The move is already the talk of the industry, and has been for months. Initially, lots of people will switch over to Katie to see how she handles the big chair. Eventually the hoopla will dissipate and she’ll settle in. But will the audience?

All successful television shows need to achieve a comfort level with their audiences. Viewers didn’t make “Seinfeld” and “Friends” the ratings successes they were solely because of laughs. They also liked spending time with those characters every week.


There is no question NBC achieved that with the “Today” pairing of Couric and Matt Lauer, as evidenced by their continuous drubbing of the competition. But morning shows are a strange and delicate combination of international news, health tips, politics, celebrity plugging, road trips, disaster coverage, makeup and fashion dos and don’ts, exclusive interviews and impromptu chats with people outside the studio. She’s grilling world leaders one minute and steaks the next.

When Couric begins her new job, the versatility that is her strength will be rendered moot. She will be a news reader. The comfort level that she had enjoyed with “Today” audiences because they liked having her along through life’s ups and downs, through the bitter truths and the easy frivolity, will have to be rebuilt from scratch. Viewers may find it unsettling to take their doses of hard reality night after night from America’s sweetheart.

It’s hard to knock Couric for making the leap. She became co-host of “Today” in 1991. That’s about 15 years or so of waking up at 3 a.m. Forget the multi-million dollar salary, the car service and the personal makeup artist. Sleeping in is the premier perk of an anchor job on the evening news.

And she is one of the rare individuals who can say, “Been there, done that” about a myriad of experiences and topics that span the globe. But anchoring a regular network news telecast? She hasn’t been there. She hasn’t done that. Only a privileged few have. The challenge is obviously a lure.

It’s also difficult to torch CBS over this. Since Rather bowed out, the network has been looking not just for a replacement, but a headliner. Les Moonves, the chairman of the CBS Corporation who engineered this hire, is a showman first and an executive second. In these days of increased competition and fragmenting audiences, that’s the necessary order. As coups go, hiring Couric to be the new Cronkite is the most momentous one available, save perhaps for appointing Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul as co-anchors.

Yet the transfer of trust, loyalty and viewing habits from the people who watch Couric at 7 a.m. to those who settle in to watch news at 6:30 p.m. is a tenuous operation. It could easily backfire. For every looky-loo who checks in to see how the experiment is working, there could be two that defect to the “NBC Nightly News” or ABC’s “World News Tonight” because they’re put off by heavy-handed use of personality to sell news.

Couric is a pro. She’ll do just fine with the nuts and bolts of the job. The issue is not whether she can make the change, but whether people want to change with her.

Altering the habits of viewers is chore enough, but the type of people who pride themselves on staying informed and look to their evening news for the straight dope are a particularly demanding strain of consumer who expect their journalists to be as serious as they are.

When she finally takes the anchor chair at CBS, Katie Couric will never seem more powerful, or more vulnerable.

Michael Ventre is a frequent contributor to MSNBC.com. He lives in Los Angeles.

© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

© 2006 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12153106/

[davesimondotcom]

I can't see her making it as a serious talking-head style news anchor.

Big mistake by CBS AND by Couric.

[Y3a]

They need a flaming liberal to replace Dan Blather.
Katie will get to read a teleprompter for almost 10 minutes a night!
Who cares really.

I haven't known anybody who watches "Clown Broadcasting Nitwork" for 20 years.

Ever since Faulter Cronkite left.

[Stradlater]

Originally Posted by Y3a

Who cares really.

My thoughts, too, basically.

[Cody Dawg]

I didn't know Katie could read?



Seriously, everyone will tune in to watch her...

But she's a woman and in the farm belt of America men are not going to sit down with their meat and potatoes and want to watch Katie Couric deliver the evening news. Especially veterans and patriotic families who know that Katie spreads for the libs.

As GWBush Sr. would say, "Nawww... Ain't gonna happen, no sirree..."

I'm a woman and even I don't want to watch Katie Couric at nighttime...let alone the morning.

Hope she gets the money upfront because Les Moonves will kick her ass legally and monetarily if she doesn't deliver.

[im_noahselby]

I've always liked Katie Couric. Good for her

Noah

[KeyLimePi]

I remember seeing her interview someone during the Clinton impeachment. She was sitting back in her chair with one leg tucked up under her. I have a seven-year-old niece who knows how to sit up straight and put both feet on the floor.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I like to get my news from journalists and not talkshow hosts.

[Cody Dawg]

Yeah! Me too!

[nredman]

i wish her luck - but not too much. we watch Brian Williams in our house

[typoon]

Whooopdee freakin doo.

[production_coordinator]

I don't think she will be missed...

Sounds like CBS is just trying to drum up a "scandal" for free publicity.

[RAzaRazor]

Katie Says:

[Daveecee]

Soledad O'Brien > Katie Couric

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by Y3a

Who cares really.

Obviously you do, or you wouldn't have replied.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I've never owned a TV in my entire life.

Therefore, I have no idea who you're talking about. And that pleases me.

greg

Now Playing: The Flaming Lips – Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading With A Suicide Bomber)

[abe]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

I don't think she will be missed...

Sounds like CBS is just trying to drum up a "scandal" for free publicity.

Scandal?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A scandal is a widely publicized incident involving allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace, or moral outrage. A scandal may be based on reality, or the product of false allegations, or a mixture of both.

Some scandals are broken by a whistle-blower revealing wrongdoing within an organization or a group. Falsely alleged scandals can lead to a witch-hunt against the innocent. Sometimes an attempt to cover up a scandal ignites a greater scandal when the cover-up fails. Classes of scandals include:

political scandals
sex scandals
academic scandals
sporting scandals (especially Olympic Games scandals)

Maybe, "Sensation."

Definitions of sensation on the Web:

an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation; "a sensation of touch"
ace: someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
a general feeling of excitement and heightened interest; "anticipation produced in me a sensation somewhere between hope and fear"
a state of widespread public excitement and interest; "the news caused a sensation"
sense: the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; "in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

[abe]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton

I've never owned a TV in my entire life.

Therefore, I have no idea who you're talking about. And that pleases me.

greg

Now Playing: The Flaming Lips – Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading With A Suicide Bomber)

It makes sense, then, that you'd be heavy into aural stimulations. ^^^^^^^^^^^

[abe]

April 7, 2006

It's Official: Meredith Vieira Will Move to 'Today'
By BILL CARTER


NBC moved with decisive speed yesterday to shore up its most prized program, the "Today" show, naming Meredith Vieira to the co-host position. On Wednesday, Katie Couric announced she was leaving "Today" to become the anchor of the " CBS Evening News."

NBC's announcement had been expected for more than a week. The timing underscored NBC's intentions: Ms. Vieira's appointment to succeed Ms. Couric is meant to provide "Today," the dominant morning show for the past decade, with the smoothest possible transition from one of the best-known and most experienced program hosts in television to another.

Ms. Vieira spent 10 years at CBS News, where she won six Emmy Awards for her reporting, chiefly on the newsmagazine programs "West 57th" and "60 Minutes." She has won seven Emmys in total. She has been the moderator of the successful group-talk daytime show "The View" for the past nine years.

She said in a telephone interview yesterday that though she had in the past resisted offers to go to one of the network morning shows, the tradition and strength of "Today" proved irresistible.

"This is such a phenomenal show, I figured I owed it to myself to really think about this one," she said. "I really am excited now about this opportunity. That stomachache you get when you worry about making a big change is gone."

Ms. Vieira, who is 52 (at an NBC news conference she offered to show her driver's license or passport to anyone who doubted her honesty about her age), signed a four-year contract to join Matt Lauer as the co-host of "Today." The terms were not disclosed, but one executive who knows the specifics of the deal said this week that she would be paid about $10 million a year. She will start on "Today" in September.

NBC had considered a range of alternatives to replace Ms. Couric, including both Campbell Brown and Natalie Morales, who have filled in for her, but none of the other candidates had the résumé — a combination of news background with established appeal as a television personality — that Ms. Vieira offered.

The process of persuading her to join "Today" was driven — literally — by Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of the NBC Universal Television Group and formerly the executive producer of "Today." Mr. Zucker first dangled the co-host position before Ms. Vieira in a clandestine drive in his car last October.

Mr. Zucker picked Ms. Vieira up and drove her the very short distance between her job at "The View" and the job she also performs as host of the syndicated version of the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Even then, he said, he expected Ms. Couric to leave for the CBS job and he wanted to create the most seamless transition possible for "Today."

The negotiations to secure Ms. Vieira went on over the last six months but only became serious in the last few weeks, Ms. Vieira said. As was the case with Ms. Couric, she said, the most crucial advice on whether to take the new job came from her family.

She had turned down previous network jobs out of concern for the needs of her husband and three children, she said. Yesterday Ms. Vieira said that her children were now old enough — her youngest is in seventh grade — for her to consider the added challenges "Today" will present.

Ms. Vieira said she was eager to get back to a job based primarily in journalism, though she conceded that after years of offering her personal opinions on every sort of subject she could have a period of adjustment back inside the more restricted world of network news.

"I'm going to have to rein myself in a little," she said. "I had 20 years of news where I never said anything. Now every other word out of my mouth is 'orgasm.' There must be something in between."

One area is already becoming a focus of some criticism. Several conservative groups attacked Ms. Vieira on blogs and in e-mail messages yesterday for having expressed views they labeled as signs of liberal bias. Ms Vieira has spoken out strongly on "The View" against the war in Iraq, for example.

She said she was unconcerned about those criticisms. "The point of 'The View' was to give your views on various issues," she said. "There's nobody that doesn't have biases one way or the other. It's my responsibility once I'm on this show to put those aside. They have no place on this show. But there is nothing that I have said that I am ashamed of. I stand by anything that I've said."

Mr. Zucker emphasized that his main goal was to accomplish the change at "Today" with the least risk to what is now the most important program at the network — because it generates the most profit. "One of the things we have always done here is we have always managed transitions well," he said.

He approached Ms. Vieira, he said, not at all sure she would be interested in the "Today" job, and he did not pressure her to take it. "I knew it was a long shot," he said. "I let her decide at her own pace."

Ms. Vieira said she expected to continue on "The View" through May, though she said she would honor her contract, which extends until August, should she be asked to.

[IonCable]

Katie? She's perky.

[villalobos]

If CBS is serious about winning the rating pools, this is who they should hire

[Spliffdaddy]

After lying to Newt Gingrich's mother, I'm surprised Katie Couric still has a job.

But then again, CBS is a liberal left-wing journalistic endeavour - so I'm not surprised they would hire her.

[mojo2]

Did anyone watch her tonite? I tuned in after 15 minutes.

[Dakar]

It lives!

[goMac]

Time to sit back and wait for the ratings.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

But she's a woman and in the farm belt of America men are not going to sit down with their meat and potatoes and want to watch Katie Couric deliver the evening news. Especially veterans and patriotic families who know that Katie spreads for the libs.

I come the from the farm belt (in Canada) and I can tell you that many if not most of the farmers sitting down to their meat and potatoes (in Saskatchewan and Alberta and northern USA like Montana and North Dakota) couldn't care less if the person giving the news is a man or a woman.

Scratch that. They prefer a woman, because they'd rather look at a good-looking woman than a man for 20 minutes.

[pooka]

Originally Posted by Eug

Scratch that. They prefer a woman, because they'd rather look at a good-looking woman than a man for 20 minutes.

Looking at a woman and listening to a woman are COMPLETELY different things, my man. My personal limit is around 20 seconds before I start getting punchie.

[baw]

I'd hit it.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by pooka

Looking at a woman and listening to a woman are COMPLETELY different things, my man. My personal limit is around 20 seconds before I start getting punchie.

I feel sorry for your hypothetical GF...

[Nicko]

Originally Posted by Eug

I come the from the farm belt (in Canada) and I can tell you that many if not most of the farmers sitting down to their meat and potatoes (in Saskatchewan and Alberta and northern USA like Montana and North Dakota) couldn't care less if the person giving the news is a man or a woman.

Scratch that. They prefer a woman, because they'd rather look at a good-looking woman than a man for 20 minutes.

Is it no coincidence that Naked News ~ news sports entertainment games movies travel is Canadian? I think not.

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by Dakar

It lives!

Thanks.

I have nothing against her PERSONALLY, I just don't like her politics nor the way she and Matt Lauer always seemed so smugly superior than thou.

Bob Schieffer is a GREAT anchor and if I had MY druthers he'd be the guy til he decided to leave.

I wish her a long life and much happiness and I hope that her ratings fall below Bob's.

[Dakar]

Quite honestly, I think when the news becomes who is reporting it, we need a reality check.

[davesimondotcom]

Well, is anyone going to send in suggestions for her signature sign-off? Here are some:

"And that's the way it's perky."

"Kenneth, what's the perkiest frequency?"

"Keep it perky."

"Perk up."

"Remember, wake up perky tomorrow."

"Courage. Perky courage."