Couric crumbles under criticism

Beth Gaston Moon — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Television, Scandals, CBS Corp 'B' (CBS)

It seems like the pressure has finally chipped away at the cheerful shell of Katie Couric, who has been under fire for months as ratings for CBS Corp.'s (NYSE: CBS) CBS evening news drift lower. Couric took over the lead anchor spot in early September, and ratings have steadily declined, putting the Eye Network's nightly news in a distant third place.

Now, apparently even Katie herself finds herself occasionally wishing she hadn't jumped from the cushy ship of NBC's Today show to the evening anchor gig. According to an AP story, she recently told New York magazine that "I have days when I'm like 'Oh my God, what did I do?'" but affirmed that "they [these doubtful days] don't happen that often."

Trying to speculate on the broadcast's plunging ratings, Ms. Couric opined that "people are very unforgiving and very resistant to change ... the biggest mistake we made is we tried new things." Further fueling the rumor mills that suspect Couric will be booted from the anchor chair before the end of her five-year contract, she said she looks forward to working more with the 60 Minutes crew and said that "If it turns out [the anchor job] wasn't a perfect fit ... I'll do something else that's really exciting and fulfilling for me."

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Couric crumbles under criticism originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Katie Couric draws worst news ratings for CBS since 1987

Beth Gaston Moon — Wed, 09 May 2007 11:15:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS)

Evidently, "perky" and "likable" aren't what the nation's network news watchers want with their nightly dose of headlines. This is a tough (and expensive) lesson being learned by the folks at CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS).

Last week, the CBS Evening News, which has been anchored by Katie Couric since early September, attracted its lowest ratings since 1987. During the first week of May, which happens to mark the beginning of the television industry's spring "sweeps" period, an average of 6.05 million viewers tuned in to watch the former Today host deliver the news. Couric is currently the highest-paid news anchor, at $15 million per year.

ABC's World News offering, meanwhile, averaged 8.1 million viewers, while NBC's Nightly News saw 7.5 million viewers tune in. Charles Gibson mans the desk at ABC -- a division of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) -- while Brian Williams is the weeknight anchor for General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC.

Thank goodness for the CSI franchise and other programs that keep CBS moving at an enviable clip. The network still won the week, earning an average 11.2 million viewers in prime time to top its four competitors.

How do you solve a problem like Katie? According to recent theories from "CBS sources," she may gracefully bow out of her current role following the 2008 Presidential election and take on another position at the eye network. But even that is well over a year away, and there is the potential for plenty of sub-par ratings between now and next November.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Katie Couric draws worst news ratings for CBS since 1987 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 May 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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