Katie Couric to CBS, Meredith Vieira to NBC

[WVRed]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...v/tv_couric_55

NEW YORK - A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC has chosen Meredith Vieira as Matt Lauer's new partner on the "Today" show.

NBC scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon to announce its new "Today" host, and a person close to the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that it was Vieira. The person insisted on anonymity because the announcement had not been made.

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.../60406042/1004

Katie Couric moves to CBS
First female to anchor evening newscast solo looks forward to breaking new ground

By Hal Boedeker

The Orlando Sentinel

Katie Couric’s jump from NBC’s “Today” to anchor the “CBS Evening News” is risky for not only her but for television news. The move, which she announced Wednesday on “Today,” could rejuvenate nightly news or underscore its waning influence. For Couric, the transition will test her appeal and reveal whether the public accepts a solo woman in a role identified with Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather.
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Couric, 49, described her move as “the worst-kept secret in America.” She also will contribute to “60 Minutes” and anchor prime-time specials. She announced her decision as she celebrated her 15th anniversary as “Today” anchor.

“Sometimes I think change is a good thing,” she said. “Although it may be terrifying to get out of your comfort zone, it’s also very exciting to start a new chapter in your life.”

She will be the first woman to lead an evening newscast by herself.

Previous male-female anchor duos didn’t work: Barbara Walters with Harry Reasoner on ABC, Connie Chung with Rather on CBS. On ABC’s “World News Tonight,” Elizabeth Vargas shares duties with Bob Woodruff, who is recuperating from injuries suffered in Iraq.

Couric’s abilities divide viewers and industry analysts, and her transition will be closely followed when she takes the CBS anchor seat in September. In May, NBC will celebrate her departure from “Today”; she has been that program’s longest-serving anchor.

Meredith Vieira of ABC’s “The View” has emerged as the favorite to replace Couric, and NBC said an announcement would be coming in weeks.

Tom Brokaw jumped from “Today” to anchor “NBC Nightly News,” so Couric’s move isn’t without precedent. But Brokaw had also been White House correspondent.

“It would be a departure to have someone (as anchor) who hasn’t been an evening news correspondent,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a Washington think tank. “But maybe a more informal newscast is part of a plan.”

Rosenstiel described Couric as an enormously popular person who had made “Today” the most profitable program in network news. The show has logged 10 years of ratings supremacy in the morning and each year earns about $250 million in profit.

“It makes her a valuable commodity,” Rosenstiel said. “If she does this and the ratings don’t work out, CBS will find itself in a difficult spot. It will be a bump in the road for her.”

It will be lucrative, however it goes. Reports have put her “Today” salary at

$15 million annually, and CBS will pay her roughly the same in a five-year deal.

Couric is one of TV’s best journalists and a versatile interviewer, but her skills are not suited to the evening news, said Andrew Tyndall, who analyzes television news in the weekly newsletter “Tyndall Report.”

“The age of the celebrity superstar anchor is over,” Tyndall said. “The way the networks will go in the future will be online. Five, 10 years from now, they’ll be producing for any medium under the sun. In that world, you don’t need a superstar anchor.”

Under Bob Schieffer, who replaced Rather a year ago, the No. 3-rated “CBS Evening News” has rebounded. It averages 7.71 million viewers, an increase of 200,000 from a year ago. NBC’s “Nightly News,” with Brian Williams, is averaging 9.79 million, a drop of 720,000. ABC’s “World News Tonight” is drawing 8.73 million, down 910,000. Those declines reflect how the evening news, in the era of 24-hour news channels, is no longer the must-see rite it was in Cronkite’s era.

“CBS has grown its audience — that hasn’t happened in a long, long time,” Rosenstiel said. “They’re going to have the risk of tampering with that, but they’re going to have to do it as some point.”

[MartyFan]

Well, lets see...there isn't a heck of a lot of difference between what AM NETWORK "NEWS" is and what CABLE 24 HOUR "NEWS" is...so I think her little bubbly outbursts will be welcome and CBS will rise to the tops of Nighly "NEWS" again.

That said, she annoys the hell out of me.

[Red Leader]

Originally Posted by MartyFan

That said, she annoys the hell out of me.

Amen to that. My wife watched the Today show religiously, I hate it, but have agreed to put up with it in exchange for a nice kiss before I leave for work each morning. Having said that, I'm happy about this news, and will be more than happy to watch Merideth Viera instead of Couric.

[Reds4Life]

People still watch the evening news?

I've never watched it, for news I have the cable news channels and the internet. Evening news = dead.

[MartyFan]

Originally Posted by Reds4Life

People still watch the evening news?

I've never watched it, for news I have the cable news channels and the internet. Evening news = dead.

People don't watch the evening news...they have it on...it is just a way for the networks to reserve more ad time from local affiliates...that's all.

By the way, more people watch the CBS evening news than watch the Today Show on NBC...hmmm...and they have the lwoest numbers of the big three...note that Fox, is in the party but still doesn't run evening news.

[westofyou]

Evening news = dead.

And assigning the task of steering the ship to Katie is a shovel of dirt on the casket.

[creek14]

Two reasons to never watch ABC and NBC.

[MartyFan]

Originally Posted by creek14

Two reasons to never watch ABC and NBC.

AGREED!

After nearly 20 years in media I never watch TV...with the exception of "24" which I am addicted to and currently seeking therapy for.

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by Reds4Life

People still watch the evening news?

I've never watched it, for news I have the cable news channels and the internet. Evening news = dead.

About the only time I ever watch any of the evening news programs on at 6:30 p.m. EST in when I'm on a treadmill at the local YMCA. There is a bank of TVs on the wall that you can watch. Even then I usually decide to watch ESPN, absent a significant news development. I absolutely do not rely upon the network evening news shows for my news.

[Roy Tucker]

I normally don't watch the Today Show but was on a business trip not long ago and caught it a couple times.

I was struck by the attitude of Matt Lauer and Al Roker towards Katie Couric. They acted like husbands with a harpy of a wife.

I'll watch the network evening news maybe once a month if I'm lucky. My in-laws still watch it religiously. It's very much of a generational thing.

I do still watch the local news quite often though.

[Sweetstop]

I grew up in a household that always watched Walter Cronkite. So now I usually have the CBS evening news on as background while I prepare dinner and have a glass of wine. However, my main news source during the day is NPR.

Alas, the network news and the daily newspaper are becoming dinosaurs.

[registerthis]

Originally Posted by Sweetstop

I grew up in a household that always watched Walter Cronkite. So now I usually have the CBS evening news on as background while I prepare dinner and have a glass of wine. However, my main news source during the day is NPR.

You know you're getting old when you listen to NPR on your way home to have a glass of wine.

I'm right there with you.

[KronoRed]

Katie has made a terrible mistake.

[Sweetstop]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Katie has made a terrible mistake.

Katie is also going to be the managing editor....power, Baby, power. She's done all she can on Today. I guess CBS wants her to help rejuvenate Sixty Minutes...now there's some old guys.

[westofyou]

You know you're getting old when you listen to NPR on your way home to have a glass of wine.

Nah you know you're old when you remember choosing between Walter, David Brinkley or Harry Reasoner when it came the news and not having anywhere else to go from there.