Posted on 07/12/2007 11:22:59 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
NEW YORK - CBS News President Sean McManus dismissed talk that Katie Couric may leave as "CBS Evening News" anchor by saying Thursday that he expected her to be doing the job through her full five-year contract. A candid Couric interview in New York magazine this week renewed questions about Couric's future, leading a prominent blogger to start speculating about who might replace her.
"She has a five-year contract with CBS to anchor the evening news," McManus told The Associated Press. "All of us, including Katie, expect her to be anchoring the evening news in her fifth year."
Couric began anchoring the evening news last September and the ratings have been a disappointment, with CBS still a distant third behind ABC's "World News" and the "NBC Nightly News." After unsuccessfully trying a few new ideas, the CBS program is being revamped under recently arrived veteran producer Rick Kaplan.
CBS News leaders have expressed frustration with New York magazine, which had a picture of Couric on its cover over the quote: "I have days when I'm like, `Oh my God, what did I do?'" The cover omits the rest of the quote, where she says, "but for some weird reason, they don't happen that often."
While Couric in the story denies rumors that she's looking to jump to "60 Minutes" full-time, New York says that "it's obvious that `60 Minutes' best reflects what Couric would like to do.'"
That led the influential industry blog tvnewser to begin posting suggestions this week on who would follow Couric as evening-news anchor. McManus said such speculation is "insulting and it's absurd."
He said he wondered why other anchors with ratings troubles—"NBC Nightly News" with Brian Williams has lost viewers and fallen to second place—aren't the subject of such speculation.
Brian Stelter, editor of the blog, said it's the blog's job to reflect what everyone is talking about.
"Maybe CBS is not thinking about who will succeed her," he said, "but everyone else is."
My thought precisely! (Those corporate PR flaks who learned their craft in the 1950s need a refresher course.)
Reenforcement of failure is the hallmark of liberalism.
Let’ start a pool...guess the date she announces on her that she’s leaving...NOT the date of her actual last broadcast...
This guy (looter man) should come forward. He has a great future in advertising.
well, it certainly is the religion of violinsce
Meaning they can’t afford to buy out her contract just now?
Familiar with Gilda Radner (Emily Litella - SNL)?
This means that she will gone by the end of the year.
Idiots. All of them.
Couric is the anchor alright, the anchor that is going to drag CBS under the waves. Couldn’t happen to a better bunch of sphincters.
This really has become the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
I would PAY to see Ted Baxter sneak on the Couric show. REAL money, mind you.
LOL!
Like the rest of the quote makes it better? Like if she doesn't dread her job every day, but only once every couple of weeks, everything's fine?
Frankly, if she isn't beating herself on the head every day for being so stupid to take the CBS job, she SHOULD be. She was actually considered successful at her last job, and was seen as an asset and was actually appreciated by her bosses.
Now she has more money, but in an environment where everybody blames her for everything, and her bosses feel obligated to make perfunctory statements about how they will "keep her".
CBS on the other hand may see that she is a bit tortured in the anchor slot, and may figure they'll force her to stay because why should they be the only ones to suffer. Plus, if she's really bothered by her poor performance, maybe she'll quit and they won't have to pay her off.
HEY he be beter anchorperson than Katie is
Oh Oh. When your boss has to publicly announce you’re staying, you’re gone!
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.