LAT: Katie, You’re On

[DeepModem Mom]

Katie, You’re On
Couric has boosted interest in evening news. Can networks cash in?
By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer
September 5, 2006


TAKING OVER: Katie Couric’s debut tonight on the “CBS Evening News” has prompted changes in the newscast’s format.
(Robert Caplin / For The Times)

NEW YORK -- The new theme song that will open the "CBS Evening News" tonight is by the same composer who did the score for "Field of Dreams," so perhaps it's appropriate for Katie Couric to recall a sentiment from that movie when asked about her hopes of attracting more viewers to the third-place broadcast.

"If we build it, they will come," she said with a grin.

And after months of speculation, followed by anticipation, Couric and CBS have finally built it.

Few doubt that Couric's debut on the newscast this evening will inflate the audience in the short-term. From the first rumors that the longtime morning anchor was considering making the jump to CBS, her move has been covered with the kind of intense scrutiny and speculation usually reserved for prospective presidential candidates....

***

But it remains to be seen what effect Couric — who will be the first sole female anchor of a network evening newscast — will have on the genre, which has been plagued by steady audience erosion for several decades....

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/cl-et-news5sep05,0,6878068.story?coll=la-home-entertainment

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Not that they care, but I wont be one of those

early OR later viewers. What an airhead.

[Human Torch]

2. She can build it, but I have no intention of coming...

...I don't plan on inflating her audience in the short term, and the effect she will have on the genre...as far as I'm concerned...is I'll now refrain from watching her in the evening instead of refraining from watching her in the morning.

I like my news straight up, NOT "perky."

:silly:

[PSPS]

3. What is this? American-Idol?

Jeebus, you'd never read this kind of utter nonsense about Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntley or David Brinkley. But that was way back when news shows were about, like, the news.

[Supersedeas]

37. it's the leastest common denominator in vanilla bland infotainment

[Renew Deal]

4. This ought to be entertaining.

I give her a year before she is shown the door.

[951-Riverside]

5. She will be just reading a Teleprompter for less than 25 mins a day!!!!!

and she's certainly not the first woman to host the evening news!

I will not have any part of this stupidity.

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. Will she put a whole grapefruit in her mouth? I'll watch that.

[arewenotdemo]

7. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[SpiralHawk]

18. Gigadittoes zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. CBS JUMPS THE SHARK

We don't need another pretty face.

We don't need no stinkin demagoges like Oxycontin Limbaugh being given cred by being invited to spout republicon propaganda points on CBS.

CBS -- YOU HAVE JUMPED THE SHARD.

[murielm99]

8. Steady audience erosion?

Ya think there might be a reason for that? Ya think people might want the news, and they are not getting it from the network evening newscasts? Ya think Katie is going to help with that?

I wont be watching.

[Kablooie]

9. And she's going to have Bush and Limbaugh! congratulating her on the show

What the hell does that portend?

[RamboLiberal]

11. Bush I could forgive her - after all he is the President

much as we all hate the idiot. But when I read Limbaugh was going to be on I just turned her off. He has no legitimacy!

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. That tidbit deserves its own thread

If she's having Limbaugh on the first night, then we know exactly where she is coming from. Fucking whore.

[leftyladyfrommo]

22. That's what I thought when I saw that. Rush Limbaugh?

This is kind of like the Grand Opening of a Big Lots store.

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. Katie Couric Has A Busy Week

04 September 2006

Katie Couric has scored a major coup if this weeks schedule remains as planned.

President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, Mayor Rudy GIuliani, Walter Cronkite, Bill Maher are all scheduled to appear in her first week's debut, but the major surprise was to get king of talk radio and media giant Rush Limbaugh to agree to appear.

King of political gossip Matt Drudge reported: "It was Katie's idea to bring Limbaugh in," a top CBS source said on Sunday. "She is very excited he has agreed to appear."

Consdiering that El Rushbo is 100% conservative and that Katie Couric is 100% liberal guarantees a show that should not be missed.

I have 100 bucks on Rush!

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_d4j_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=8&article=283&Itemid=35


There a plenty of conservatives that are much more appropriate representatives of that side of politics that Katie could have invited. To have the King of Hate on right off the bat is even more reason never to watch this supposedly 'liberal' airhead.


Note: The spelling errors in the press release are in the original copy.

[Wednesdays]

29. Maybe, just maybe, this isn't so bad as it seems...

King of political gossip Matt Drudge reported: "It was Katie's idea to bring Limbaugh in," a top CBS source said on Sunday. "She is very excited he has agreed to appear."

Consdiering that El Rushbo is 100% conservative and that Katie Couric is 100% liberal guarantees a show that should not be missed.

Yeah, Couric has always seemed to be a GOP cheerleader. But what if she really does have a mind of her own but couldn't show it because she was under NBC's heel? Let's see how she is over at CBS. I remember fondly how Ted Koppel skewered Jim and Tammy Bakker when they weren't under the protective shell of their TV show. Maybe...just maybe...Couric will shock everybody and do the same thing to Pig Boy.

(On edit: We'll see how it goes. If she continues to kiss up to wingnuts, I'll have written her off entirely...as well as anything to do with CBS.)

[tuvor]

10. It's official: They no longer tell us the news, they now create it.

[saltpoint]

12. I miss Bob Schieffer already.

[aquart]

14. Me, too.

He made me feel secure.

Katie Couric...........lacks gravitas.

[libertad]

36. Bob Schieffer did a great job!

nt

[Eurobabe]

13. We used to have this saying: Who really gives a shit Lorraine?

n/t

[last_texas_dem]

15. I've always been a CBS fan

if I decided to watch an "Evening News" broadcast, which has always been pretty irregularly. It just always seemed like the channel to watch, as my grandparents and parents had always tuned it in as well. But I've become less and less likely, first because of what they did to Dan, and now because they have actually seriously decided to have Katie Couric as host. I liked Schieffe; he was an old-school Texas Democrat like Dan was, though he usually kept politics out of it as it should be- although he did seem to be a bit biased in the other direction during the Clinton scandal while on "Face the Nation." But he was generally professional and a comforting presence reading the news. Katie Couric hosting the Evening News is just a disappointment; maybe I'll tune in out of curiosity at some point, but I think I'm pretty much done with Evening News broadcasts (on any network) altogether.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

49. Same here, it was a family tradition

Not so much anymore. I just don't feel the need to watch anymore. I prefer hard hitting news from a serious angle, not powder coated news/commentary and human interest stories sprinkled with hollywood drivel.

I'm glad my grandfather, a devout news junkie, hasn't been around to see what our media has reduced itself into.

That's The Way It Is...

[Tellurian]

16. I dunno..

But I'd give a BIG hug to whoever the studio EX was that lured her
away from nbc. (for less $$$ hee!) I like nbc's format. Lester Holt
is the consummate professional. Campbell is an insider but will step
up to the plate if she has to. Nice, though, to look forward to local
down to earth talent, Meredith Viera.

Happy Days!

oh, no...I won't be watching Katie either.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

26. Not a fan of Lester Holt.

In the runup to the Iraq war, I heard him describe the pro-war marchers as "pro-America." :mad:

[Tellurian]

30. By and Large he's pretty even..

I'm kinda surprised he had anything to say about it at all.
The teleprompter made him do it!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

31. What's weird is that he corrected himself.

He said "pro-war," then "pro-American."

[onehandle]

17. "If they hire a bimbo, they will come," she said with a jiggle. nt

[MaineDem]

24. She's the first network female sole anchor

That's a major step forward for women in television.

[onehandle]

41. Gimme a break.

There are actual women journalists out there.

She's perky t and a. Nothing more.

[KurtNYC]

34. Here is what came to her Milan....

Those italian birds are tough critics.

[Joe Bacon]

20. Last nail in the coffin for CBS news

I refuse to watch Bimborella the liar. Bet she leads off with the lie that Democrats took money from Abramoff.

Goodbye, CBS News. You've lost me for good.

[leftchick]

21. If Yahoo Photo Ratings are any Indication

katie is not very popular....2.7 stars after 71 votes is pretty bad. That is chimp territory.



http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/en/082706katiecouric/im:/060831/photos_en/2006_08_30t202813_450x427_us_couric

[Eurobabe]

25. She looks more and more like Sheryl Crow, think it's the botox

or plastic surgery.

[Auntie Bush]

46. Plastic surgery is very likely. The outside corners of her eyes used to

to droop down and now they tilt up...also the nose/cheek fold is less pronounced. A little botox also helped.

But what's really sad is that we/me are discussing her looks. It's a shame that women aren't allowed to age and get wrinkled, baggie eyed, fatter and gray and men have no problem with all those minor problems. If Hillery wins...I can just hear the comments for the next 8 years... especially from the fascist righties.

[Binka]

48. Jaysis WHAT Is She Wearing? Could It Be Just A Bit More BEIGE?

Her necklace is hideous and totally inappropriate as well. Go fuck yourself Katie with a big FAT BEIGE DILDO!

[Cha]

27. couric thinks she scored a coup

by getting the limped dick limbaugh on her first week show. I think she's a corporatewhore and I don't do corporatewhores.

[KansDem]

28. Will she "get back to us" about her accusation that Dems took money...

...from Abramoff?

Last January, she had Howard Dean on and made that accusation. Dean fervently denied it, and she concluded that she'd have to look into it and get back with us.

That was 8 months ago. Maybe tonight's the night?


With Today hosts' record of silence on conservative falsehoods, Couric chided Dean for accurate statement

Summary: NBC's Katie Couric wrongly challenged Howard Dean when he made the accurate statement that "all these folks involved in getting money" from Jack Abramoff "are Republicans." However, Couric and Matt Lauer have often failed to challenge guests who assert conservative falsehoods or make misleading claims that enhance conservative positions.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200601260003

[warrens]

32. If she kisses Smirk's butt tomorrow

I will never watch her again. She has a chance to do something different, but you know damn well he only showed up because he was guaranteed softballs, while she gets the "get." If that's how it STARTS, imagine how big a whore she'll be when her ratings dive.

[yurbud]

33. why don't they stop calling it the news? Not just for Couric, but all

the networks.

[dflprincess]

35. I'm wondering if they may not have her read real news for the first

week or so to lure us in and then gradually start adding more and more perky stories, thinking we won't notice.

[ramapo]

38. CBS News has come a long way....

too bad in the wrong direction

[AnneD]

39. Gee....

I can't wait for her to help me make sense of the world:sarcasm::eyes:

[puffthemagicdragon]

40. I didn't get the memo that she was royalty

who cares!

[SoCalDemGrrl]

42. 15Million dollars and she can't think of a tag line!! Pathetic!!

Ok - I had to watch it, even though I have boycotted the Today show since the 2000 debacle which showed that

Couric is just another Rovian tool as evidenced by her despicable treatment of Al Gore. The mere sight of her makes me want to vomit, but I decided to see who

they decided to replace Rather (a true newsman) with and boy is the country in for a TREAT!!! It's newslite mingled with

several thinly veiled attempts to "EDUCATE" the public on topics such as why our gas prices are too high. (Didn't

you know that drilling down 175 miles into the Gulf of Mexico to bring us our oil almost equals the price we're paying at the pump?)

I thought not... but hey if it's on the evening news then quit yer bitchin' and pay that $3.00 per gallon plus... and smile while your doin' it!!!



Then we had the fluff piece on the American boy who has championed the creation of murals of poor Nicaraguan orphans by students in the U.S. and how

it's "connecting" the two cultures... sweet story, but not for THE EVENING NEWS for Chrissake!!! This kind of pablum belongs on Oprah or The View....

BUT THE TOPPER WAS AT THE END OF THE "PROGRAM" WHEN KATIE looks into the camera and coyly states that she just hasn't thought of the proper sign off/tag line yet.

Jeez I'm thinking, they have given this chick a reported FIFTEEN MILLION dollars and she's had what, 4-5 months to think about it and she's stumped.

ALL I CAN SAY is HEAVEN HELP US... and THANK GOD FOR THE "INTERNETS"...

[Ilsa]

43. She might want to consider Mike Malloy's ...

"Watch your back."

[SoCalDemGrrl]

44. Nice one!!

[scarface2004]

45. edward r murrow

is spinning in his tobacco smoke filled grave!!

[Triana]

47. Not in my house she's not, nor is CBS or...

...telvision or cable teevee at all - not for well over 4 years. Nothing on there but trash. Today, trash is spelt:

k-a-t-i-e--c-o-u-r-i-c

Every day, festering, steaming, stenching pole-o-shit trash is spelt: f-o-x--n-e-w-s

Only good thing about it all is NOT having to watch it. And the bad thing is that so many braindead sheeple do - and they believe *every* word without question. Then, they vote. Gives a whole new dimension to the word "idiot".

Oh. Look. Here's one now:

[depakid]

50. "steady audience erosion"

That about sums it up.

Maybe we could up with a theme song for that?

[Javaman]

51. The completion of project: TV dilution. nt