If John McCain wants my vote he must dump Sarah Palin and fast. Judging by the latest polls showing Barack Obama moving ahead and gaining traction, I'm not the only one that feels this way. The outcome of the election is key to investors worried about a range of issues including the $700 billion federal bailout of Wall Street.

Obama may lack the experience I would hope to see in a presidential candidate but to quote a friend and fellow McCain supporter "Sarah Palin is an idiot and the only way she should be allowed in the White House is if she buys a tour ticket." This is not a unique sentiment given the Sarah Palin must go stance taken by conservative columnist Kathleen Parker of the Los Angeles Times. She says her cringe reflex is being exhausted.

I do not like Obama's proposals on capital gains taxes, a windfall oil profits tax, new government programs and several other issues, but the idea of Palin being second-in-command is a joke. And speaking of jokes, if I have misjudged, and McCain and Palin win the election, then Oprah will be surpassed as the wealthiest female in the entertainment industry. The new titan will be 30 Rock and former Saturday Night Live star Tina Fey who will be racking up fat paychecks based on the never ending material supplied by Palin.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the Tiffany Network below in the comments.

If CBS Corp.'s (NYSE:CBS) nickname The Tiffany Network were newly coined, I'd speculate that it referred to the long history of Tiffany's, and how the current CBS viewing public had probably begun shopping there back in the '20s. If the company has a more recently gained nickname, it would be the silver (-haired) network, due to the skewing of its viewership toward the geezer crowd.

In reality, the Tiffany moniker hearkens back to the CBS of radio's heyday and the early days of television. With the likes of Edward R. Murrow reporting from London during the Blitz, Orson Wells scaring the bejebus out of listeners with his broadcast of The War of the Worlds, the hit multi-cultural comedy I Love Lucy, and the iconic western Gunsmoke, the network's reputation for quality was once as glittering as one of Tiffany's diamond-pavéd bracelets.

How the mighty have fallen. CBS, with debacles such as the Katie Couric news anchor stint, now lags behind Fox in weekly ratings.

The Tiffany Network is part of a massive entertainment company with fingers in television (66% of revenues), radio (remember radio?) (12%), outdoor advertising (16%), and publishing (6%). Yes, those are all very 20th century businesses. The question troubling current investors is just how the company will move into the 21st century without swapping all its diamonds for rhinestones?

NBC News President Steve Capus and his boss at the General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)-owned network, Jeff Zucker, are thanking their lucky stars that Tom Brokaw will be the interim host of "Meet the Press" through the November election.

Brokaw, who was anchor of "NBC Nightly News" for more than two decades, agreed to take on more duties at the network after chatting over a beer with Capus aboard an Amtrak train traveling from Washington to New York following Tim Russert's memorial service, according to the Washington Post. The 68-year-old Brokaw later called Capus to volunteer to temporarily take over "Meet the Press," the paper said. It was a no-brainer for NBC to take Brokaw up on his offer.

"Meet the Press" is a cash-cow for NBC, attracting well-heeled viewers eager to learn about the doings in Washington. Advertisers likely pay premium rates for 30-second spots on the program because it is so prestigious. It needs a host to fill Russert's role who has both name recognition and a reputation as a non-partisan straight shooter. Brokaw fits the bill on both accounts.

In fact, the 68-year-old native of South Dakota is such a good fit for the program that the network probably wishes he would take the job permanently, even though Brokaw apparently would prefer to spend his Sundays clad in waders at his Montana ranch fishing for trout. Odds are fairly good that Brokaw's tenure will extend beyond the election because finding the right host is not going to be easy.

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann of the MSNBC network are too partisan and grating to take over "Meet the Press." NBC's Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory are well-respected journalists but hardly household names. Look for them to try to land Katie Couric, whose future at the "CBS Evening News" is murky at best, or CNN's Wolf Blitzer or even Gwen Ifill of PBS.

General Electric's long-suffering shareholders are probably interested in the search as well. Any sale of NBC Universal would be easier knowing that one of its most visible shows is in good hands.

Broadcasting and Cable reports that Katie Couric, the anchor of CBS Corp.'s (NYSE: CBS) Evening News, may leave well before her $15 million a year contract expires in 2011. It suggests Couric could leave as early as next year, following the presidential inauguration in January.

Why would she leave? It looks like low ratings are forcing her out. Despite the media blitz surrounding her 2006 move from NBC's Today show, Couric did little to help the ratings, as CBS Evening News has struggled to find ratings ground behind NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and ABC World News with Charles Gibson.

While I rarely watch her show, the few times I have she seems to be drained of life -- it is as if she is being forced to play a role that she finds excruciatingly difficult to perform. I think there is a place for her on TV but that is not it. I will be interested to see who comes in after her.

Update: The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reports that Couric might replace Larry King when his contract expires in 2009. It notes: "One possible new job for the Ms. Couric: succeeding Larry King at Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) CNN [which shares a parent with BloggingStocks]. Mr. King, who is 74 years old, has a contract with the network into 2009. CNN President Jon Klein, a CBS veteran with close ties to some at the network, has expressed admiration for Ms. Couric's work, and the two are friends."

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

With everything from call centers to web site design being outsourced, the clear trend in the business world is to outsource almost any task that can be done cheaper and quicker somewhere else. Reports that CBS (NYSE: CBS) and cable news pioneer CNN, owned by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) are in talks about outsourcing the news, should come as no surprise.

According to a story in The New York Times, "Broadly speaking, the executives described conversations about reducing CBS's news-gathering capacity while keeping its frontline personalities, like Katie Couric, the CBS Evening News anchor, and paying a fee to CNN to buy the cable network's news feeds. "

With CBS stuck in third place among major networks for years, and general viewership of the evening news falling due to alternative news outlets such as cable news, blogs and internet sites, this tie-up would make economic sense. CBS would be able to keep its brand name and substantially cut costs, as they would be able to take CNN news feeds from around the country.

Broadcast television is all about viewers these days. From Brian Williams to Katie Couric, the format, delivery and audience are all about moving targets and semi-celebrity more than content in many cases. Why? Because a whole new generation of news seekers can get their fixes on cellphones and laptops -- live -- 24 hours per day. Why wait until the next morning or the next evening to get your news?

In particular, Couric's personality -- which was marketed as bright and perky -- was intended to attract an audience who CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) execs thought would actually care. Turns out, they didn't. Now the re-branding of Couric with CBS's Evening News uses words like "impressive" and "poignant" to describe the peppy news host. Is anyone listening? Certainly not the younger and women viewers who CBS was trying to recruit with its previous Couric spunk.

CBS Corp. CEO Les Moovness said "I wish younger people would watch the news. It does not look like that is going to happen." Good call there, Les. Broadcast television news is part of the old media guard, not the new media instant fix. It's hard to think any younger viewers will plop down to waste 30 minutes of their time (with untargeted advertisements, no less) when all the news is available for free anytime. Question is: what is CBS going to do when the core audience starts turning off the tube? Re-market Couric yet again?

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.

In yet another sign of the decline of network television news, General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) NBC dumped "Dateline" anchor Stone Phillips. He won't be the last high-priced talent to be shown the door.

As ratings continue to decline for news programs at NBC, Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) ABC and CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) profit pressures are intensifying as shareholders demand to see a return for the money being poured into these shows.

That's why Phillips won't be earning nearly as much at his next job as the $7 million USA Today says he earned at NBC. Odds are best that he'll wind up at News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) Fox News Channel, Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) or another cable network such as the Discovery Channel which is now home to former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel.

In the wake of Philips' departure, TV personalities up and down the dial are probably quaking in their designer clothes wondering whether they will be next. It's a well-founded fear.

Networks are less patient than ever.

If entertainment programs don't immediately catch on, they are gone after a handful of episodes. Ratings are just as important to news programs. Though nightly news programs have been in decline for years, they still make good money for the networks.

Ratings points translate into advertising sales which translates eventually into profits. No TV star is immune from fiscal realities.

That's why Philips got pushed out the door. "Dateline" has morphed into a program dedicated to catching pathetic sex offenders. His services as a newsman were no longer needed.

Last week, I noted that the CBS Evening News had garnered its worst ratings in roughly two decades, with much of the blame falling on Katie Couric's shoulders (which are grazed by her impeccably highlighted hair). The post inspired several comments, both in support and in condemnation of Ms. Couric.

Today's New York Times weighed in on the issue, reporting that both CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) and Katie Couric have yet to throw in the towel. The new anchorwoman, who has been behind the desk for eight months, told the paper "Honestly, I think we're going to see ebbs and flows . . . I don't think it's a doom-and-gloom scenario."

Despite earlier rumors, Ms. Couric and CBS management continue to insist that she will not be heading anywhere -- not to another position with the network, not to the unemployment line -- until her five-year contract is fulfilled. Earlier speculation had suggested Couric might bow out following the 2008 elections. As CBS chairman Leslie Moonves noted, "This is a long-term commitment."

The eye network's nightly news offering is facing an uphill battle for the next four years and four months; a recent Gallup poll shows that 29% of respondents flat-out do not like Ms. Couric, compared to the just 51% who do. The nightly anchors for both Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) ABC network and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC have less than 20% in the "don't like" camp.

CBS executives point out that the Evening News is still profitable. But for each 0.1-point slip in the ratings, industry experts say, revenue could drop as much as $6 million.

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

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.

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) has its hands full with sinning talent.

The Washington Post Co.'s (NYSE: WPO) Newsweek reports that CBS Evening News anchor, Katie Couric -- who is dating a 33-year-old cougar -- plagiarized in her Notebook segment from a story by Dow Jones & Co.'s (NYSE: DJ) Wall Street Journal [subscription required] reporter Jeffrey Zaslow's March 15th Moving On column. Newsweek alleges that Couric's segment on the decline of libraries copied Zaslow's article in nine places. In response, CBS fired the Notebook segment producer.

And earlier in the week, Don Imus, whose radio program is carried by CBS Radio, suspended his show for two weeks after his comments on the Rutgers women's basketball team. So far Imus's remarks have cost his show two advertisers -- Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) and Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS). If enough cancellations follow his show will be dropped altogether.

I don't watch any CBS programming and I would avoid CBS stock. With a P/E of 17.5 and earnings expected to grow 13% in 2008 to $2.00, CBS trades at a Price/Earnings to Growth (PEG) ratio of 1.35. This seems expensive for a company whose $14.3 billion in sales have shrunk at a five year compound annual rate of -9.2% and whose net profit margin of 10.3% trails the industry average by three percentage points.

My view: skip Couric, Imus, and CBS stock.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in CBS, Dow Jones, Procter & Gamble, Staples or Washington Post securities.

CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS), whose "Evening News" broadcast trails its competition by a mile, recently named former MSNBC head Rick Kaplan to oversee the show. Anchor Katie Couric better hope that Kaplan brings a magic wand with him otherwise her job could be in jeopardy.

Despite all of the talk to the contrary, CBS has got to be wondering if it made the right move hiring Couric. Her predecessor Bob Scheiffer was doing a great job in the wake of the Dan Rather Memogate debacle. In fact, Couric's ratings are worse than his.

There's no doubt though that Couric faces a double-standard because she's a woman, though I don't think her gender is the reason for her poor ratings. Plenty of women anchor local and cable news shows. People just aren't warming up to her as the "Evening News" anchor. Maybe all of the tabloid gossip tarn shed her once golden-girl image. Whatever the reason, Couric is facing an uphill battle.

As the Associated Press points out, Couric's broadcast is a mess. Kaplan, a skilled producer, can make the "Evening News" more coherent. But if people haven't warmed up to the star anchor now, I am not sure they will once the broadcast is revamped.

If General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) really wants to boost the faltering ratings at NBC's "Nightly News with Brian Williams," it should bring in Keith Olbermann.

The host of MSNBC's popular "Countdown" show is far from traditional anchor material. He's loud, occasionally obnoxious and extremely In other words, he's interesting and people will watch him even if they don't agree with his political views.

Brian Williams doesn't have to be replaced; Olbermann would serve as a good counter-point to the affable anchor who was anointed by Tom Brokow as his successor. Maybe Olbermann can have a Lou Dobbs commentator role on the show. Something has to be done.

The worst kept secret in TV news is that NBC News plans to fire John Reiss as executive producer of the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" because of declining ratings. That's not surprising. NBC needs to think outside the box -- the TV box that is -- to make the show more relevant. I know that's easier said than done but too much money is at stake for NBC not to take a chance.

NBC, Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) and CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS) all count on the news shows to boost their bottom lines. The audience, though old and declining, is too big for advertisers to ignore at least for now.

Morning programs are a much bigger cash cow. That's why ABC was reluctant to send the popular Charles Gibson away from "Good Morning America." The network had little choice but to turn to the 63-year-old Gibson after "World News Tonight" anchor Bob Woodruff got seriously hurt in Iraq and Elizabeth Vargas got pregnant and decided to go on leave. Gibson turned out to be the right move because the program's ratings are surging.

Katie Couric was brought in with great fanfare by CBS and hasn't done much to boost the program's popularity. People seemed to like Bob Schieffer better. CBS brass says they are sticking by Couric, but I question how long that will go on. No one likes to be third in a three-way contest.