Posted on 04/09/2008 4:54:44 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
CBS, Couric Likely to Split By REBECCA DANA April 9, 2008 7:44 p.m.
After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the "CBS Evening News" anchor is likely to leave the network well before her contract expires in 2011 -- possibly soon after the presidential inauguration early next year.
Ms. Couric isn't even halfway through her five-year contract with CBS, which began in June 2006 and pays an annual salary of around $15 million. But CBS executives are under pressure to cut costs and improve ratings for the broadcast, which trails rival newscasts on ABC and NBC by wide margins.
Her departure would cap a difficult episode for CBS, which brought Ms. Couric to the network with considerable fanfare in a bid to catapult "Evening News" back into first place. Excluding several weeks of her tenure, Ms. Couric never bested the ratings of interim anchor Bob Schieffer, who was named to host the broadcast temporarily after "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather left the newscast in the wake of a discredited report on George W. Bush's National Guard service.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
sniff, sniff..........
boo, hoo
See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!
Oh bother said Me as I turn the channel anyway.......:o)
Like we didn’t see this coming.....!!
Maybe that PLO childrens show needs a new Hate Spewing Panda .
I not only hope she leaves, I trust any BS reputation she had is ruined....the lowest rated news show in the business, and hope she never has the opportunity to plunk her ass in front of a camera ever again...brainless bimbo.
Does that include having another colonoscopy on TV?
Try this:
Honesty
No bias
Cover both sides of the issues
I must admit that this would be a good move. It would save $30,000,000 during 2009 and 2010, a noticable improvement from their current condition. If CBS put on a second year journalism student as an anchor, they would get about the same ratings and might get a few more intelligent interviews than from Katie. Now add in a small staff of folks with some technical background and common sense and for about $300,000 per year, you have as good or better quality than what CBS has now. (I added the technical folks to the staff in order to intercept some of the more idiotic questions of the type that Katie regularly lets loose.)
and outsourcing the news reporters to CNN - someone must be looking at the balance sheet let alone the stock price...
I’m hoping she’s gone before the election. She won’t have
to get the black dress out of mothballs for her crying, when
the dems lose again.
Dear Michael,
I will address your points in order.
Honesty - CBS is honestly trying to dig itself out of the ratings pit. Maybe we need to give Katie a big raise. That should do it.
No bias - Len Bias retired from basketball a long time ago. He was never one of our employees. I fail to see your point here.
Cover both sides of the issues - CBS covers both the Trotskyite and Stalinist points of view in a very evenhanded manner. How can you say we don't cover both sides? Again, I fail to see your point.
I hope you will continue to tune in to CBS for the latest in news excellence.
Respectfully,
Les Moonves, President, CBS News
The outsourcing to CNN is part of a ploy to get her off the payroll.
Better yet, they’ll make it so she’ll feel she’ll get better treatment somewhere else (outsourcing will eliminate her ability to do any actual editing of the news and thereby relegate her to newsreader), which means she’ll ask to get out of her contract.
That’s what CBS really wants in the first place. They want her to quit rather than have a big payoff. If they have to pay her off, she won’t be able to work anywhere else for a period of time.
bump for later proof.
ROFLOL
Len Bias................ Retired.
That is like saying JFK 'retired' from politics!
Put her on the piano and crank up “Thanks for the Memories”.
OMG!! ANd KATIE says CEO's are OVERPAID!! HYPOCRITE!!!!
15 MILLION DOLLARS for READING a teleprompter for 30 MINUTES a night!
Based on what I’ve read about the CBS/Couric deal, the network really didn’t a damn what kind of rating she got on the CBS Evening News. They didn’t sign her to generate high ratings . . . they signed her to take her away from NBC in an attempt to eat away at NBC’s ratings on the “Today” show.
There is a dark haired guy on Cnn HEADLINE News I saw today that sounded NORMAL....he would be a GREAT replacement for her! He wanted the book to be thown at those teen age girls....YEAH!!! CBS should hire him to do the news.
Come now, we have to allow for how difficult it is to read the teleprompter while maintaining a perky smile..... :^)
For $15 million per year I think I could manage it, laughing all the way to the bank.
I don’t understand where ANY network newscast gets an audience. Personally, I haven’t watched Couric, Jennings, or Brokaw for over a decade.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.