Couric Slipping Away - See, I told my friends this would happen!

[leftyladyfrommo]

ABC 2x audience of Couric in NYC and LosAngeles & Chicago

Chicago - ABC was 4x Couric

ABC over CBS in Philly

I tried to watch again the other nite and she was comning across better but who wants to see things like "free speech" and the most popular sites on the Internet on nitely news. Just too much soft stuff.

[Avalux]

1. When the lead story is "taking your dog to work" -

as it was the other night, she's got real problems.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. One nite - after a really terrible day in Iraq - she had nothing on Iraq

It was one of those days when a whole bunch of bodies were found tortured and shot - and there was nothing. Her coverage of that is just poor.

I've been watching Lehrer most of the time. They really try to cover the important stuff. And at least their soft stuff is always right at the end so if I don't want to see it I can just turn it off.

[Warpy]

7. Or she's being sabotaged by the editorial staff

which is a definite possibility. They're used to working with real journalists, not people who produce fluff for a morning audience.

Whatever the case, she's taken the evening news into hard right editorializing, something I'm sure the rank and file resents.

Whatever the cause, I doubt CBS is going to get their money out of her unless they shift her to their own morning fluff show.

[timber84]

8. I liked that story,, Replacements is a very progressive company

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. Should stories like that go first? I think that is the problem.

They need to cover the hard news first. And then if there is time do the other stuff.

[timber84]

12. I did not realize it was the lead story, I thought it was more towards the

end.

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. I didn't see it - so I don't know.

Anybody watch that nite?

[countryjake]

39. It wasn't the lead story, but the dog coverage did preface the intro...

of what they'd be covering that evening. And it was just this week when CBS said not a word about the situation in Iraq. That has happened a couple of nights since Couric took the helm.

I've watched CBS Evening News for fifty-some years but now find myself drifting over to ABC or opting for the local news on NBC. As someone who normally surfs to catch each story done on national news by each network, it has also become very hard to even catch Ms. Couric's tiny blips when she does mention an event or topic...donating less than 15 seconds to something of national importance and then choosing to feature dog-days at work...even tho I appreciate the thrust of that piece, it did not merit all of the time that CBS gave it.

[Avalux]

16. That's cool, but it shouldn't have been her lead story.

Plenty of real news she should have covered.

[FormerDittoHead]

20. There's more hard news on "The Daily Show".... n/t

[leftyladyfrommo]

29. And probably a lot less biased, too. n/t

[DireStrike]

2. Sometimes I want to say I feel bad for her

Then I remember that free speech is a privelege, so I don't say anything.

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. I feel badly because there are really good women that they could

have hired. Why they picked her is just a total mystery to me.

[hlthe2b]

24. Exactly... Couric will do more harm to the progress of women..

in her field than Phyllis Schafly could even dream. That is what pisses me off about Couric. She is a light-weight that could be exploited to set back the future of true hard-working (and perhaps less photogenic) women journalists... Heck of a job, Couric....

[leftyladyfrommo]

30. I don't think she is very photgenic, do you?

When I saw her on 9/11 she looked terrible.

Not that I think women should be judged by that.

[hlthe2b]

34. Personally no... But apparently many buy into that "girl next door"

cutesy personna she has banked on through the years...Personally, I find intelligence and dignity to be attractive--give me a Christianne Armonpour anyday... (not that Armonpour is not also a handsome woman). And, if they just have to continue to assume men won't watch a woman who is not movie-star standard attractive, then go for CBS' (former BBC) warzone reporting star, Lara Logan.. Lara has earned her stripes the old fashioned way--she's worked hard for it, rather than banking on her looks.

[trotsky]

35. ZING!

Very, very well played. :) :)

[Nite Owl]

3. If they had someone who

told the truth like Keith their ratings would be through the roof, way ahead of anyone else. They don't know what works, they don't want to know what works because it doesn't work for them so they try to push this phoney stuff down our throats.

[City Lights]

18. Exactly right! And instead of striving for the truth, she invited Pigboy

on to her "show." :puke:

[oasis]

22. Katie can apply for a job on Rush Limbaugh's staff.(eom)

[xchrom]

4. remember the problem isn't couric's per se --

the networks are trying to follow in the footsteps of cable and bring personality driven news.

however studies show that cnn and fox have limits to the number viewers that will turn into personality style news.

so couric is going to run into built into boundaries with this experiment they're trying.

[displacedtexan]

6. That's what they get for hiring Corky Sherwood.

Duh.

[Poiuyt]

36. I liked Corky!

LOL!

[npincus]

10. I sent this to CBS this morning:

I like Katie Couric, but after watching your first broadcast, did not come back for more.

Folks, like myself, who watch the 6:30PM broadcast are looking for a condensed version of all the news they did not have a chance to read in their busy day, also any breaking stories not yet to be in that day's paper.

They do NOT want "newsy" content: opinions, or 60-minutes style segments. I can see that on cable 24-7. Your "Free Speech" segment is a terrible idea. It really irritated me. Opinions are like __________(fill in)- every one has one. Again, punditry and opinion are rampant on MSNBC, CNN and FOX cable channels. I don't want "opinion" or analysis- I want to know what happened in the world and in the country that day.

What do viewers want? NEWS. It is not CBS' job to worry about how viewers "feel"- if it's mainly bad or horrible news REPORT it to us. That's why I continue to watch Brian Williams- the news is delievered straight-up. The majority of his program is simple reporting, with an occasional fluff piece at the end.

That's why you are losing your audience. In as much as Couric was responsible for changing the format, she may be at fault, but people are not rejecting your broadcast because of her. It is the content of your broadcast. 6:30PM viewers want the TV equivalent of the NY Times, not fluff or pre-digested information.

CBS is trying too hard to entertain or please their audience. WRONG. It's about the NEWS, it's always been about the news, and will always be about the news.

I'll give you another try if you adjust your format. That's why Schieffer is missed (ask my Mom)- he's all about the NEWS of that day- serious and unfiltered, not catering to the taste or feelings of the audience.

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. I liked Scheiffer, too.

I think Couric could have done it if she had just done hard news.

She was so stiff at first but she is better now. Its just the stuff they have on is plain ole dumb. I'm not going to waste my time with it.

[npincus]

21. Exactly. I knew they were in trouble when I read

that Couric was doing a "listening tour", and asking Americans "what they wanted to hear". UGH.

[mattomjoe]

37. Ugh, is right--

She can't even come up with her own sign off signature without asking her audience for suggestions.

:eyes:

[ananda]

13. I watch BBC World and Lehrer..

nuff said

[Supersedeas]

23. yep

[AlCzervik]

17. i've seen her 3 times and the problem imo is that there is hardly any news

i stick with the bbc and Newshour.

[Selatius]

19. Bill Maher is pissed at CBS's pathetic attempt at "free speech"

He said the reason he didn't come to the show was because they gave him a fucking list of what he could talk about.

I'm sorry, but I agree with him that a pre-approved list of what you can or can't talk about is not freedom of speech at all. It is censorship. In his last episode of Real Time, he said it was the deal breaker that led him not to go on Couric's show.

[leftyladyfrommo]

25. I just don't want to hear personal editorials on the nitely news.

I want to hear about Iraq and Iran and the UN and Darfur - the important stuff.

[Selatius]

27. From what I can tell, he wanted to talk about religion

CBS said "no."

[calimary]

31. Did they give such a list to limbaugh?

After all, fair is fair. Isn't it?

[Selatius]

33. Limbaugh was on Couric's show?

I don't watch her show, so pardon my ignorance. If he was on there, what topic did he discuss? Patriotism?

[calimary]

40. He was evidently given one of those "Free Speech" moments.

Like he hasn't already had more than his share.

I don't know what he talked about because I don't listen to him, OR watch her. Too perky for me, especially in the evening. I think another DUer here said it best - "Gidget does the news." She should have stayed with the "Today" show or some other venue where her personality could be put to better use. I'm not sure how she can sustain playing it straight. There are other women who'd have done better, and with a little more gravitas, like Christiane Amanpour maybe, or Leslie Stahl, who's already in house, or perhaps Katrina vanden Heuvel of "The Nation." Women like these are intelligent, experienced, elegant, credible, and nice to look at. And they could probably have had Meredith Vieira, too, I'll bet.

Actually, what they SHOULD have done - what SOMEBODY should do - is woo away Keith Olbermann for a nightly network news anchor job. Then he'd get the kind of prominent mainstream showcase he deserves and a salary closer to what he's worth. I swear, SOMEBODY out there is missing a landmark counter-programming opportunity. A REALLY big one.

[Akoto]

26. Watched it until Scheiffer left. Now I get my news from TDS. n/t

[leftyladyfrommo]

28. What is TDS?

I don't have cable so I have to stick with ABC and PBS.

[calimary]

32. The Daily Show - on Comedy Central.

Our "newscast of record" is "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC.

If you don't have cable but "internets" access, you can always click on www.crooksandliars.com for clips, at least. They've had several different kinds of excerpts from "Countdown" and other programs you'd otherwise miss. And mostly, it's the meatier stuff that leads the 'cast. For example, they've offered clips not only of Olbermann's landmark commentaries of late, but also of powerful segments like his interviews with Jonathan Turley of George Washington University - the Constitutional law expert and scholar who's a very credible authority on the torture questions of the moment. If you can't access the whole show, at least you can find pieces of it. Also, Keith's "Bloggermann" blog on MSNBC.com features not only the texts of his commentaries but frequently some video clips. Crooks and Liars also features clips of other news and faux news programs.

[gkhouston]

42. sad to say, I've seen more factual news content on

The Daily Show than on recent quick flips through CNN. The BBC World Service radio program is great, too (not funny, but very informative). Countdown is a never-miss in my household.

[greenbriar]

43. I don't watch CBS news since they didn't stand behind Dan Rather

they are assholes

[Writer]

38. Local market ratings differ from the national average...

anyone know the national rating for ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.?

[Disturbed]

41. $15 Mill a yr for Gidget does fluffy stories?

These execs. get paid $Millions for these kinds of decisions. American Capitalism is strange indeed.

[Supersedeas]

45. Tickle me Elmo and Condi playing piano aren't fluff-calculated distraction

[high density]

44. CBS is leading, barely, in the 25-54 demo

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/couric_watch/default.asp