CBS Exec Tells AP: Couric Will Step Down From ‘Evening News’
- Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:07am by
Scott Baker
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NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Couric is leaving her anchor post at “CBS Evening News” less than five years after becoming the first woman to solely helm a network TV evening newscast.
A network executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Couric has not officially announced her plans, reported the move to The Associated Press on Sunday night. The 54-year-old anchor is expected to launch a syndicated talk show in 2012 and several companies are vying for her services.
Couric‘s move from NBC’s “Today” show was big news in 2006, and she began in the anchor chair with a flourish that September. She tried to incorporate her strengths as an interviewer into a standard evening news format and millions of people who normally didn’t watch the news at night checked it out. But they drifted away and the evening newscast reverted to a more traditional broadcast.
After those first few weeks, the “CBS Evening News” settled into third place in the ratings and is well behind leader Brian Williams at NBC’s “Nightly News” and second-place Diane Sawyer at ABC’s “World News.”
No departure date has been set for Couric. Her CBS News contract expires on June 4.
“We’re having ongoing discussions with Katie Couric,” said CBS News spokeswoman Sonya McNair on Sunday. “We have no announcements to make at this time. Until we do, we will continue to decline comment on rumor or speculation.”
Said Matthew Hiltzik, Couric’s spokesman: “Ditto.”
Still, discussions are already under way about who will replace Couric on the evening newscast. Russ Mitchell, Scott Pelley and Harry Smith are among the internal CBS candidates, and new CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager is also expected to look outside the company.
Couric, who was on vacation last week, was reluctant to talk about her future when she appeared on fellow CBS host David Letterman’s show on March 22. “Once you take that anchor chair, that’s what you do,” Letterman told her.
“Really?” Couric answered.
“Look at Walter Cronkite, look at Tom Brokaw, look at Brian Williams, look at Peter Jennings, look at all these people,” Letterman said. “They get in it, they saddle up and they ride into the sunset.”
Couric smiled widely and said she loved doing the evening news and was proud of her work, but made no future commitments. Despite the ratings problems, the “CBS Evening News” won the Edward R. Murrow Award as best newscast in 2008 and 2009. Couric’s interview with then-Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in 2008 was a memorable moment in the campaign after Palin couldn‘t or wouldn’t answer Couric’s question about books or magazines she regularly read.
Even with those high points, broadcast news economics had changed markedly since she signed on with CBS and her reported $15 million a year salary became increasingly hard to justify for a third-place telecast. Fager, the “60 Minutes” executive producer, was installed as CBS News chairman two months ago and new executives frequently like to put their own stamp on newscasts.
Rome Hartman, Couric’s first executive producer at the “CBS Evening News,” said that while Couric‘s tenure clearly didn’t work out as well as CBS hoped, “I don‘t think it’s right to think of it as, or call it, a failure.”
For the first time in many years, a network tried to increase the number of viewers watching the evening news instead of trying to steal a bigger slice out of an ever-shrinking pie, said Hartman, editor of “BBC World News America.”
“There are people who love Katie and those who don’t love her and that was a factor,” he said. “But it was the overall dynamics. There was a rock that we couldn‘t move and I don’t think it would have mattered who we would have put in there.”
Although Couric will leave the evening news, she might not leave CBS. The CBS Corp. is a powerful force in the syndication business as owners of “Dr. Phil“ and ”Judge Judy,” and the upcoming departure in May of Oprah Winfrey will leave a huge void in the talk show marketplace. Through CBS-owned stations, the company could give a big head start to a Couric show. Due to the sales calendar, such a show would not likely begin until fall 2012.
A syndication deal with CBS is seen as the only possibility that Couric would continue as evening news anchor on a temporary basis past June, if she were to agree to stay during an extended search for her successor.
Other chief contenders for Couric’s services are NBC and Telepictures. NBC is her old home, but is not considered a big player in the talk show business. It tried and failed to launch a show for Jane Pauley, one of Couric’s predecessors on “Today.” Telepictures is bigger in the marketplace, producing “Ellen” and a new show with Anderson Cooper debuting in the fall, both of which could take potential time slots away from Couric.
Each of the companies has related news divisions where Couric could have some visibility before starting a talk show — at CBS, NBC or CNN, through Telepictures.
The personality that Couric could be expected to readily display on the talk show circuit could be seen last week in a video posted by aol.com. Couric, who has actively encouraged Americans to get colonoscopies since her husband died of colon cancer, took a humorous look at undergoing her own test. Her doctor jokingly noted that he had found a Batman doll while looking at Couric’s internal organs.
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Comments (102)
nohbuhdee
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 7:05amCouric has left the building and nobody noticed or cared.
Report Post »WILLIAM E.
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 7:01amKatie could start her own show, “ Little Muslim Pig Farm In The Big Desert” !!
Report Post »servantshart
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:57amWho is Katie Couric?
Report Post »streetrodder
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:43amI guess that means they will replace her with sombody else, nobody will watch.
Report Post »vegtech
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:40amHer new headquarters will be based from same place as Rosie, Geneine and Whoppie. The Show is titled The Skank.
Report Post »VLADTEPES
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:07amMaybe Brittinay Spears, she’d be just as good..
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 5:56amWhy do folks feel the need to bloviate with bloated posts that are longer than the actual story? I barely have time to read the story let alone the blog-novel. Please stop I am wearing out the scroll wheel burning past your diatribes.
Report Post »Wyatt's Torch
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 5:58amSorry…had to vent
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on April 5, 2011 at 3:45amThe Lone Ranger post does give a plausable answer to the question “Why Katie Couric?”
–the conscious (or commercial) dumbing down of the network watching public.
Too much too fast CBS! In order to get the propaganda in there, you have to put it in a “real news” context–à la CNN or MSNBC.
Report Post »Lone Ranger
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 5:24amWhy would anyone want to employ this woman. I live-blogged during her very first Evening News show and just happen to still have the post:
What Was That? What WAS That? What was THAT? WHAT WAS THAT??
As someone who has done thousands of newscasts as a reporter, anchor, director, producer and writer, I can tell you that the CBS Evening Views with Katie Couric is not a newscast. I’m not quite sure what it is. It looked like a one-person Today Show stripped of all its hard news.
Of the who, what, when, where and why of a news story, “what” is the most important qualifier. If you can’t tell people what happened, it is not news.
The lead story was about the Taleban in Afghanistan — from the Taleban’s point of view, for crying out loud. Why did the Taleban allow a female CBS reporter into one of their secret strongholds? Because they know CBS is on their side and NATO fighters would not bomb their hideout within 30 minutes of the reporter getting back to their base.
Oh, “what” happened? Nothing. It was not a news story, it was a feature. Who leads a newscast with a feature? Katie did.
The second story might have been news, since something happened. President Bush gave a speech today on the War on Terror. Jim Axelrod opened it saying, “President Bush is casting the war on terror in new terms yet again.” Yet again? That isn’t reporting, that is commentary. Axelrod goes on to day, “Clearly the President hopes his strong suit — the War on Terror — will absorb his weakness — the war in Iraq. And that required making the struggle larger than any single terrorist.” That is clearly opinion, not fact. With a smirk at the end, Axelrod said it was “clearly a ‘stick with me’ speech.” Was this a news story? Well, it reported an actual event but was so full of opinion that it would have to be classifed as an editorial. Who airs an editorial in the first 7 minutes of a newscast? Katie did.
So, NOW we’ll have a news story, right? Nope. What we had was an interview with NYT columnist Thomas Freedman about the War on Terror. Of course, with his perfect 20/20 hindsight, Freedman pointed out all the “mistakes” that have been made in Iraq, including cutting taxes, slimming down the military (done before 9/11) and not sending in an overwhelming force. Of course, if we had sent in an overwhelming force, Freedman would have been screaming about American jackboots on foreign soil. No news there.
Now, this is weird. Nine minutes into the newscast, she does something called CBS News Briefing. What? I thought this whole show was supposed to be a news briefing. She mentions that 7 out of 10 rescue workers at Ground Zero have some kind of lung problem, the CEO at Ford Motors has changed, and the Crocodile Hunter died. News? Yes. But nothing more than bullets, containing the most basic of information. The entire segment lasted 45 seconds. Want more details? Go to cbsnews.com.
Break. Did you know that cholesterol can come not only from fettucini Alfredo, but from your Grandpa Alfredo? Now THAT’S news! End of break.
And now we have yet another feature called Eye on Your Money. There was a news story there — that Chevron discovered a huge oil deposit in the Gulf — but it was just used to introduce a feature telling us what goes into the price of a gallon of gas. It was like a mini Discovery Channel documentary. At the end, I’d forgotten what the original story was.
Another commercial break followed by another feature called freeSpeech. That’s not a typo — freeSpeech. In an introduction that was just as long as the commentary, Katie informs us that “Expressing your opinion is very American.” Shades of Edward R. Murrow, that is deep. Katie introduced Morgan Spurlock, who rightfully trashes the lack of civil discourse in our society. No doubt Katie thought he was talking about Ann Coulter. At the end of the segment, Katie promised we would hear from a lot of people, but the only one she mentioned was “Rush Limbaugh on Thursday.” She knows a ratings-booster when she sees one. “Do you have something you want to get off your chest? Go to cbsnews.com. ” No news here.
So, we’re 20 minutes into the newscast and..OMG!…another new feature! This one is called Snapshots. (sigh) So, they showed a video clip of Douglas Edwards holding up photos of 19-week-old Prince Charles in 1949. Douglas Edwards reminds me of a young Emperor Hirohito. They went on to show pictures of Suri Cruise, who looked like she was wearing a wig to make her look like Charlie Sheen.
Another commercial break.
Another feature. This one is about a guy from Wisconsin who paints portraits of third-world children in orphanages and then gives them to the kids. A feel-good story, but not news.
And that’s it. That’s all. There is more hard news in Jay Leno’s monologue than in this newscast.
Wait….a contest!!! It seems that Katie has “wracked” her brain and cannot come up with a witty sign-off. Wanna help? Just go to cbsnews.com and suggest something. Is that exciting or what? Is that news or what? Nope.
I used to do what we called a “clip show” like this. Every week we got a cassette containing a few dozen feature stories from around the world. What we didn’t use in our newscasts, our station manager made me put in a Saturday afternoon clip show. His reasoning was, since we paid for it, all of it should be aired. I mentioned to him that that’s like prorating the cost of a window by the number of people who look through it. After awhile, the window will pay for itself. He never liked me, for some reason.
CBS Evening News has become a clip show. I’m guessing this will be like Cop Rock. There must be a bunch of CBS execs right now thinking, “What have we done?!” And what was with that hoochie eye make-up?
Report Post »BeeGirl
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 5:22amThe words good and riddance springs to mind
Report Post »GulfPeg
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:56amCould Couric think that Obama is going to lose in 2012 and she doesn’t want to be on the losing side?
Report Post »Rampart
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:56amDon’t let the door hit ya…
Report Post »flintoid
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:35am@101
Report Post »You’re right. The Blaze is becoming a huge disappointment with its fixation on Bill Maher and the like.
Fina Biscotti
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:05amCBS needs the time – to get the bugs out – with the new show host – before the 2012 presidential campaign – although it has already started.
That is why THE BIG PUSH – for Couric to hit the door.
Report Post »Sam
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:00amWhat you sow is what you reap…
Report Post »BonnieBlueFlag
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 3:17amWell she was obviously never qualified to begin with, otherwise we might as well embed Kathie Lee with UN forces in Libya.
Morning talk show morons =/= qualified hard news journalists.
So, Katie, what *is* the internet, anyway? You stupid hairdo.
Report Post »patriotwoman
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 3:17amCouric has always been over-rated as a “journalist”. The end of her “anchor” career has been far too long in coming. Buh-bye, Katie. Don’t let the door hit you in the @ss on your way out.
Report Post »murdoc1
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:52amI won’t miss her a bit after her anti Palin antics. I think news anchor Lynna Lai would be great feature! http://www.lynnaluvers.com
Report Post »onejimharris
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:33amIm happy
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:28amYou certainly will not miss what you never watched…….quit watching her when she was on Today with Bryant Gumbel.
Report Post »Brasil2520
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:27amGlennisright.com
Report Post »She was a great puppet for the white house, she could do a report on, let‘s say Hitlery Clinton want’s to sent a $100 Billion to Haiti, and she would do that report with a smile and try to sell it to a bankrupted nation like it’s a great “rebuilding” plan, you know like the one before that . . .
neverending
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:15amI say send her to Japan to cover the nuclear power plant disasters. I am sure she would do a perfect job. Generally don’t like to see people forced out but in this case it could not happen to a more derserving, arrogant, egotistical broad!
Report Post »Fina Biscotti
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:02amcorrect –
I thought it was also a push to the door.
Being a $-ho, she will make enough demand$ to exit…..to never have to work again – as a show host. I hope they give enough money to her – that she leaves the country.
The hatchet job – CBS – and Couric did – on Governor Sarah Palin –
was absolutely disgraceful as human beings.
Report Post »h20sue
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 8:26amKatie’s not being forced out. Her contract is not going to be renewed. Hallelujah!
Report Post »Shame it wasn’t a shorter. Not to worry, she’s made enough money she can retire or find something to do with Obama. She sure wasn’t up to an anchor job.
glennisright.com
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:02amWho cares about Catie Couric? The people delivering the news are NEVER more important than the people making the news, or the news itself.
http://www.glennisright.com
Report Post »ColoradoDad
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:57amKnow if we could just get rid of Matt Lauer. Ughhh
Report Post »P.S. – Oh, and all of the liars at PMSNBC.
ColoradoDad
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:09amI’m sorry, I mean’t Liberals/Progressives/Marxist/Communist….Um…..Well same difference.
Never mind.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:28amlol im guessing she will join blowberman in the realm of irrelevant…………..oh wait , they both already own that moniker
BURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 3:31amI am guessing she will be the next Barbara Walters – Barbara has got to be retiring soon and Couric is a very good interviewer. It will be interesting to see where she lands! I wish her luck!! http://maboulette.wordpress.com
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 3:46amDon’t think so, WALK. She made it with perkiness, then felt her position allowed her to put her political bias out there in a naively indiscreet way. Don’t see anything close to a “ride off into the sunset” personality here.
Report Post »JustaThought
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 8:46amCBS asked Katie Couric to step down. Katie lowered her head, nodded and did so reluctantly. She then picked up the three-foot-high box she had been standing on and walked away knowing that it might take a long time before people ever looked up to her again … unless they were the few still surviving cast members of OZ.
Report Post »And then the phone call came that little Katie had longed for. It was the President of the United States.
“Katie, I want to ask you if you would be interested in working with my Press Secretary.”
“Why, yes, Mr. President. It would be an honor. What would I be doing?”
“You would be there to give short briefings.”
cheezwhiz
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:13amStill, discussions are already under way about who will replace Couric on the evening newscast.
Report Post »——
I suggest Charlie Sheen
drattastic
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:16amHe’d probably get higher ratings . I’m sure she has a job in the Obama administration open for her,you know, to finally make it official .
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:24amThey could create a brand new show for her called “Yesterday”
Report Post »nosycophant
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:29amWow bad genes skin looks rough bumpy.
Report Post »A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:29amCouric sure is easy on the eyes. :)
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:32amdrattastic
Report Post »I’m sure she has a job in the Obama administration open for her,you know, to finally make it official .
——–
In the above report, Couric’s only achievement listed ( other than her shoving a camera up her business for a show ) is when she could stump Palin( after heavy editing ofcourse) .
Couric HAS to be rewarded for that. Maybe Soros will finance the muslim Cosby show she has been planning for so long. Then she can dance on TV too .
That will be her contribution to Hussain holding on to power
sissykatz
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:34amI think it would be funny if when she leaves and her replacement comes in that we get everyone to watch to make it look like Katie was a bigger failure than she was. We could shoot CBS to number 1 in that time slot, only for a little while and really blow their minds. lol
Report Post »taxed
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:39amOh please no Katie…. first Olbermann, and now you. Why do all the good ones go? Where else will we find a pro Obama Marxist lover?
http://conservativepoliticalforum.com/index.php?board=1.0
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 1:57amA Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
Report Post »Couric sure is easy on the eyes. :)
——–
Scroll down for a feast for those eyes :D
http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/04/in-honor-of-katie-couric/
Cute and perky while doin the jerky
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:19am@Cheezwhiz
Great idea, then the bottom will really drop out of the Communist Broadcast Stations ratings, such as they already are near rock bottom.
{Sheen, first minute on the news: “Good day America…”
Report Post »{Americans: Click…channel changes never to go back…
GETLIFE
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:45amIt’s anyones guess who they will come up with next. How could they not have seen that she wasn’t the right pick for announcing world news? And after her nasty insistence with Palin, even her trademark perkiness was not believable.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 2:46amCHEEZ ~
Charlie Sheen? I don’t think so.
“Good evening. I‘m Charlie Sheen with tonight’s f-ing news.
Report Post »I hear there‘s a crack party over at Katie ho’s house. No party’s any f-ing good without crack. Where was I? Oh, yes. The evening news. I got a car story that more interesting. Oh, eff it. Let’s party.”
101
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 3:46amMillions of Americans out of work and the news reporting “Katie Couric out of a job” WHO CARES?
Really, where’s the news? I’m beginning to lose all faith in Becks reporting, one of their own are more important than American citizens. The government changes how they calculate unemployment to make employment look better, and we have to read this pathetic leach lost her job!
How about breaking it down exposing the bean counters and showing the true falsified unemployment figures!
Report Post »Oil_Robb
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 3:56amShes a rotten decietfull leftwing cow….sorry dairy farmers but she is
Report Post »teddie888
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 4:28amthere really is a God. Thank goodness she’s gone with her uber left ideas and $5 million a yr
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:01amKatie who?
Report Post »Miami
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:45amWho cares, does anyone even watch her….
Report Post »Jackers
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:54amPerhaps Ms. Couric should build herself a “Little Mosque on the Prairie”…
Report Post »mwhaley
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 8:22amI guess when the CBS guys need a paper bag, and cut the lights off it is time for her to go.
Report Post »zorro
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 9:14amAwesome first post.
Report Post »Klibb
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 12:58pmI suggest Charlie Brown.
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on April 4, 2011 at 6:02pm………..
Report Post »Well, he does have all the right qualifications to anchor CBS..
1. He hates Sara Palin
2. TBA
3. TBA