So Who Are They Going to Hire to Replace Katie?

[leftyladyfrommo]

Because I think she is just going to completely bomb.

And have you noticed how CBS is trying to make Lara Logan a huge star? What is that all about?

I saw her report on Afghanistan the other nite and she never even mentioned that fact that heroin and opium production is the main part of their eceonomy now. That seems to me kind of an important piece to the story.

[Xenotime]

1. Why would they replace her?

I think she is doing a great job. She's just warming up.

[Benhurst]

5. Maybe if she'd use a stronger antiperspirant it wouldn't be so obvious. NT

[SteppingRazor]

2. I imagine they'll stick with Katie...

the CBS Evening News will do even worse if they play musical chairs with the anchor seat. They've made their perky, credulous bed. Now they have to lie in it.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Nah - I think they will replace her.

Too much money at stake.

I think they will hire a man and go back to strictly hard news.

[warrens]

20. Sally Quinn had a story yesterday

Back in the 70s, she was announced as a cohost for some national program. Same hype. Same bad ratings. She lasted four months.

I think it will take a year or two of poor results for them to dump her. She has a very fat contract they have to pay whether she works there or not. Like, $15 million a year.

I think this was a bad idea. Christine Amampour, now, would have been GREAT for this; instead, they went light and fluffy, and I do not want my news light and fluffy.

Speaking of which, the new Nightline may be up in the ratings, but long-term, it's going to bomb. It almost seems like a nightly local newscast...too many whooshes and happy talk and crap stories. My last time was last night; it was just a waste of airtime.

[spinbaby]

3. I like the CBS weekend guy

His name escapes me, but he turns out a nice neutral newscast.

[Rose Siding]

6. Lara Logan has a great rep for standing up to Republicans-

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/26/lara-logan-smacked-down-the-quotnegative-iraq-war-coveragequot-charges/

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I think she does try to tell it like it is.

I've heard her do that several times.

[underpants]

10. Look this might be really superficial.. but....

she is spine melting gorgeous.

AND a fine reporter

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. She is really pretty. But she just seems so young to me.

Course I'm a little on the north side of young.

[Ravenseye]

39. and I have a massive crush on her

Not only is she hot, she EXUDES intelligence and confidence.

[leftyladyfrommo]

41. Why don't you just try and e-mail her.

What could it hurt.

I'm beginning to see why CBS is pushing her. She has a huge male following.

[TornadoTN]

44. You may be onto something!

I am a huge Lara Logan fan myself, but its something beyond the looks that draws me to her. She is intelligent, well spoken, and generally does a good job at being even-handed. You have to respect someone who has taken the kind of assignments she has and handled them with true professionalism.

Sure, CBS is probably capitalizing on her "beauty" factor, just like they do everything else, but I feel like this one has a little more substance to her to back up the looks.

[leftyladyfrommo]

47. She just needs a little seasoning.

But she would probably like an e-mail. I'll bet it gets kind of lonely over there in the middle of a war.

[TornadoTN]

50. Somehow, I don't think my wife would approve! n/t

[LTR]

8. CBS has way too much money tied up in her

She'll stay for quite a while, or they pull a Gumble and move her to the morning show.

As far as anchors, my vote would be Anderson Cooper, provided he do it in the same free-wheeling style as he did anchoring ABC's overnight news. He was really good then.

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. Yea - he's a good bet.

People really like him.

And he is a really serious kind of news guy.

[partylessinOhio]

11. Did you see her last evening? I flipped there very briefly.

She is looking more fierce. The muscles in her neck were standing out as if she was very tense. Her jacket was wrinkled and puckered and did not fit her.

My son noticed she was bent forward toward the camera and asked me, "Why is she sitting bent like that?"

For fifteen million I would hire myself an image consultant, makeup artiste, hair stylist and designer. What is she thinking? Katie's high school look wasn't right for Today and it is worse for the Evening News.

CBS should take the fifteen and hire at team of 3 fives.

[Poiuyt]

22. Portrait photographers have people lean forward to hide double chins

I haven't seen Couric on the CBS News, so I don't know if that is the way that she's leaning or is what she's trying to do

[leftyladyfrommo]

31. She just seems so stiff - and her voice sounds really forced and

way too controlled.

I wonder what she would be like if she had a couple of drinks and then did the news. Probably would go a lot better.

[Poiuyt]

35. I think it would help the viewers to have a couple of drinks before

watching her too

[leftyladyfrommo]

36. Or a joint? You may be on to something wonderful there. n/t

[TornadoTN]

45. Everything about her is forced!

It always has been. She is nothing more than a ratings figurehead with no journalistic wherewithall to back up her position. She skated through the "Today Show" because of her image, notice you rarely -if ever- heard anything about her interviews or reporting. This is not going to work on the CBS Evening News because it is an entirely different demographic and setting.

CBS made a bet that a "Entertainment Tonight" style news program would bring in the viewers, but they bet wrong. A national evening news program has never been and never will be about perky - happy news filled with the latest Hollywood gossip mixed with a couple minutes of the days news. CBS blundered this one and will be paying dearly for it for many years to come.

[leftyladyfrommo]

27. I know. She should have. And a coach to help with delivery.

Her delivery is really forced. And she doesn't look good. Which is still kind of important - unless you are Christian Amanpour (she could get away with no makeup and a gunnysack.

[Richard Steele]

12. They could replace her with a portable TV tuned to "NBC Nightly News".

Save a lot of money that way.

[demigoddess]

13. A man, of course, they just wanted to put a woman in there to fail and

then they can hire one of the good old boys they had in mind before. And they will say a woman can't hack it.

[leftyladyfrommo]

28. And there were so many really great woman they could have picked.

I couldn't believe it when I heard they had picked her. Of all people.

[TornadoTN]

46. A lot of other women out there

CBS could have had the pick of the litter for the Evening News, but they chose to go with someone who has always been more of a figurehead than a real reporter. The reasons for this were purely financial - they felt that she would draw people from outside the usual demographic to tune in each evening. This was flawed logic to begin with and now they will start to bleed the regulars left over from the Rather - Schieffer days.

I think a woman could handle and do quite well in this type of position, but not in the format that is currently in place at CBS. They didn't have to reinvent the wheel, they merely needed to hire the right person to pull it off, which they didnt.

[WinkyDink]

51. No way. CBS bet that they would garner Today Show ratings.

[jean]

14. yes - glaring non-mention of the Taliban drug trade

[Jack Rabbit]

15. Arthur Jensen wanted Howard Beale kept on the air

In all the critiques of the film Network, shot in 1976 from Paddy Chayefsky's visionary screenplay, one that is almost never brought up is how the news program went full circle in the course of the story.

In the beginning, Howard Beale (Peter Finch) was a news anchor like any other, only nuts. His news program was like any traditional news program and it lost money. Up to that time the networks expected newscasts to lose money, but it was still money well spent because presenting the news was a public service and a good network newscast it was a great lead in to prime time programming (which stank in those days, too).

Frank Hacket (Robert Duvall), a corporate manager, called this an "affront to fiscal responsibility" and set out to change it. With the help of programing director Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) he turns the network newscast into an entertaining, glitzy program. It resembled the Jerry Springer Show, although the film was made years before that kind of garbage was on the air. It made lots of money.

Of course, TV viewers grew weary of this like they do any other show that panders to the base public taste, and the program started losing money. However, by this time Beale was delivering the message that corporate CEO Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty) wanted delivered, a message of the irrelevance of democracy and the benefits of corporate domination. Jensen's philosophy was 21st century corporatism as expressed in 1976. Anyway, Jensen didn't care how much money The Howard Beale Show lost; as long as Howard was propagating Jensen's message, it would stay on the air.

So the newscast went from a money loser to a money winner to a money loser. However, as Goethe said, a story is not really structured as a circle as much as it is a three-dimensional spiral. It comes back to the same coordinate on one level, but on a different plane. The difference is that while the network newscast began as a money-losing public service, it ended as a money-losing corporate infomercial.

Perhaps TimeWarner will want Katie Couric left on the air. She may lose money, but she's delivering their message.

[Nikki Stone 1]

16. Great post. And I've gotta rent Network.

Thanks

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Have you seen it before?

Please drop me a PM after you see it and let me know what you think.

[Nikki Stone 1]

32. OK

Somehow this one passed me by.

[soothsayer]

17. Her ratings plunged from 9.5 to 3.6 by the end of the week

[leftyladyfrommo]

29. I know - that was awful. How embarrassing for her.

I can't believe she even considered this gig.

[kskiska]

19. Anna Nicole Smith

Men will watch.

[StraightDope]

33. "Men will watch."

Not this one!

[kskiska]

48. She won over the Supreme Court

She's unappealing to me (I'm not a guy), but some guys like that sort of thing.

[AngryAmish]

21. Lara Logan is really good looking

I think the requirements to read the news on television are primarily looks plus good diction. A good head for names and places helps also.

They should only hire the good looking because the not-so-good-looking who are actually good reporters could just write the scripts for the good looking news readers.

[triguy46]

23. Katie who? What's CBS? n/t

[WI_DEM]

24. even if the CBS Evening News is in third place but improves in crucial

demographics they will keep her.

[Cleita]

26. Mayb they should start sending flowers and muffin baskets to

Dan Rather.

[leftyladyfrommo]

30. Don't you wonder what he thinks of all this.

He has to just be apalled.

[Cleita]

34. I'm sure he's thinking what goes around comes around.

It's known as karmic justice.

[leftyladyfrommo]

37. He can't help but be happy this is happening - deep down inside.

I just wish he would show up somewhere so I could watch him do news. He is the best.

[Cha]

38. Dan Rather is showing up

somewhere but I don't know who's going to be able to take advantage of
him?

"HDNet Announces New Program, "Dan Rather Reports"


Snip~
"- HDNet is excited to announce today that one of the most accomplished news journalists of our generation, Dan Rather, will produce and host "Dan Rather Reports," premiering exclusively on HDNet this October.

A weekly news program, "Dan Rather Reports" will feature hard-edged field reports, interviews and investigative pieces. It will be one-hour in length and will be completely uncensored. It will reflect the signature qualities of its host with a focus on accuracy, fairness and guts.

"We're thrilled that Dan is now part of HDNet " said Mark Cuban, Co-Founder of HDNet. "Now that he is finally released from the ratings driven and limited depth confines of broadcast television, I am excited about the impact Dan can have on the future of news."

"Hard news needs backers who won't back down. Mark Cuban is such a leader," said Rather. "As a team player I intend to give Mark and HDNet all of the hard work, loyalty and fearless, high quality reporting possible."


http://www.hd.net/pressrelease.html?2006-07-11-01.html


This is explaining more about HDTV...
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6112298.html

[leftyladyfrommo]

42. Shoot. I don't have cable. I would love that show. n/t

[UTUSN]

40. Why Meredith, of course, & Rosie to the Today. It's all a ladder. n/t

[annabanana]

43. Lara Logan has done excellent work...

And she put herself at risk to do so.

[WinkyDink]

49. What is UP with her SITTING ON HER DESKTOP?? I watched last

night, because of the story on Joe Paterno (Class of '71 here), and couldn't believe the totally unprofessional posture she literally had assumed!!

[radwriter0555]

52. I can't believe people in the USA concern themselves with which ACTOR is

going to be feeding them the daily horseshit.

No offense.

Just making a point.