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Couric Gets Trounced During May Sweeps (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)
TV Blend ^ | May 28, 2007 | Mack Rawden

Posted on 05/28/2007 1:48:17 PM PDT by abb

Most people think the Nielson ratings only apply to primetime programming; however, this is a complete fallacy. Network news plays a frequently forgotten but always important roll itself. A few days ago the final May Sweep totals were announced, and let’s just say it wasn’t pretty for ‘CBS Evening News With Katie Couric.’

According to Variety, the perky anchorwoman managed an average of just 6.1 million viewers. That’s the lowest Tiffany network total since they began tracking the news in 1991! ABC’s ‘World News With Charlie Gibson’ led the way with 7.95 Million, while NBC’s ‘Nightly News With Brian Williams’ narrowly finished second with 7.3 Million people tuning in. Gibson’s victory gives the crown to ABC for the first time since Peter Jennings finished first in 1996.

Let me try and put this is as simplistically as I can. Dan Rather was a complete unquestioned failure. He lost a large percentage of Walter Cronkite’s enormous audience within a few years and ended up retiring, almost completely disgraced last May. Katie Couric makes Rather’s tumultuous tenure seem like a gift from God. Thus far, her short stint has been marked by an inability to read the teleprompter, proven plagiarism, and an increased emphasis on soft news.

snip

(Excerpt) Read more at cinemablend.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 4thestate5thcolumn; biasmeanslayoffs; cbs; ccrm; couric; haha; news; television; trysellingthetruth
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To: abb
Brushing up on how to do the happy dance. Years ago, I cheered when the perky one replaced Deborah Norville.

How times change.

21 posted on 05/28/2007 2:51:19 PM PDT by mombonn (God is looking for spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.)
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To: abb
I can’t believe 6.1 million tune in to watch her.
22 posted on 05/28/2007 3:01:24 PM PDT by kempo (blA)
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To: abb

Does anyone have the stat of how many viewers watched at the height or TV news? Was that in the Cronkite era? Cuz you have to figure that their are probably 60 70 million more people in America now than then and people are watching less and less tv while more and more channels are being added.


23 posted on 05/28/2007 3:11:53 PM PDT by Walkingfeather (u)
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To: abb

Why doesn’t this woman just retire and marry her “Boy Toy”.

I wouldn’t want to keep fighting at the end of my career days. Let’s just say she made a bad move. We already know the network did because they always do.


24 posted on 05/28/2007 3:13:31 PM PDT by freekitty
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To: abb

Why doesn’t this woman just retire and marry her “Boy Toy”.

I wouldn’t want to keep fighting at the end of my career days. Let’s just say she made a bad move. We already know the network did because they always do.


25 posted on 05/28/2007 3:13:31 PM PDT by freekitty
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To: Walkingfeather

http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2005/narrative_networktv_audience.asp?cat=3&media=4

In 1980, the three commercial network nightly news broadcasts had a combined 37% rating, and a 75% share. And at their historic peak, in 1969, they had a 50% rating and an 85% share. The November 2004 figures mean that ratings have fallen almost 59.6 % since 1969, and 45.4% sinc1e 1980. Share has fallen 55.3% since 1969 and 49.3% since 1980.5


26 posted on 05/28/2007 3:14:41 PM PDT by abb (The Dinosaur Media: A One-Way Medium in a Two-Way World)
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To: abb

I have a difficult time believeing there is no ratings data prior to 1991. Newspeople have kept an eye on their ratings going all the way back to the 1970s.


27 posted on 05/28/2007 3:17:27 PM PDT by Tall_Texan (NBC News - the preferred network of assassins and terrorists.)
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To: abb

They could improve her ratings w/the Test Pattern Indian.

Pray for W and Our Troops


28 posted on 05/28/2007 3:22:38 PM PDT by bray (The co-clintons freed more terrorists then they killed)
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To: abb
Executives at ABC are considering ways to get viewers into an ad before they even realize it. On"Ugly Betty," for example, the camera focuses on a book as its cover dissolves into a commercial. Or there could be a real ad playing on a television that is in the scene of a show.

Ah. The old we shall fool them into watching our commercials ploy.

29 posted on 05/28/2007 3:32:25 PM PDT by Milhous (There are only two ways of telling the complete truth: anonymously and posthumously. - Thomas Sowell)
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To: abb

If ad skipping is a problem, why don’t they just go to soccer playon style ads or more frequent shorter breaks? In on case you could not surf as you would be missing the program and in the other you would have less time to surf.


30 posted on 05/28/2007 3:43:39 PM PDT by JLS
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To: abb

Get this guy a spell checker.


31 posted on 05/28/2007 4:57:05 PM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: abb
Adding to the urgency, this week Nielsen Media Research begins offering ratings for commercial breaks, instead of just the shows around them.

Uh oh, that's gonna to leave a mark. The advertisers are going to use those numbers as a stick to beat the networks with.

32 posted on 05/28/2007 5:17:04 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY (Every day gives us another example of what a disaster it was to lose Congress to the 'rats)
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To: abb; be-baw

Good news...... are you out there man?


33 posted on 05/28/2007 6:20:15 PM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . It's spit on a Democrat weekend)
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To: devolve; abb; ntnychik; PhilDragoo; dixiechick2000
Lol, Couric's been trounced more than once!!


34 posted on 05/28/2007 7:46:37 PM PDT by potlatch (MIZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_MIKAZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_MAZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_))
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To: abb

It’s Bush’s fault.


35 posted on 05/28/2007 7:52:04 PM PDT by Tolkien (There are things more important than Peace. Freedom being one of those.)
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To: abb

MAN EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS, EXCELLENT FIND ABB
Great stats on news media

http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2005/narrative_networktv_audience.asp?cat=3&media=4


36 posted on 05/28/2007 7:55:06 PM PDT by Walkingfeather (u)
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To: potlatch; devolve; abb; ntnychik; dixiechick2000

37 posted on 05/28/2007 9:25:39 PM PDT by PhilDragoo (Hitlery: das Butch von Buchenvald)
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To: abb

20 million IGNORANT people....pathetic.


38 posted on 05/28/2007 9:27:47 PM PDT by Suzy Quzy (Hillary '08...Her Phoniness is Genuine!!!)
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To: devolve; PhilDragoo

LOL, Oh Phil, this is a first for you! Does she have a string to pull?

Very cute.


39 posted on 05/28/2007 9:31:26 PM PDT by potlatch (MIZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_MIKAZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_MAZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_))
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To: kempo

Wonder what the average age of the viewer is?


40 posted on 05/28/2007 9:39:35 PM PDT by RobbyS ( CHIRHO)
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