ANCHOR AWAY!
KATIE COURIC ABOUT TO MAKE TELEVISION HISTORY WITH BIG MOVE
And with those words, the waiting game was finally over this morning as Katie Couric made her ultimate decision, and that was to make the jump from NBC and the "Today" show to CBS to carry the legacy left over by Dan Rather (and for the last year temporarily, Bob Schieffer) as anchorwoman -- that's right, anchorwoman -- of the "CBS Evening News" this fall.
Her new job offer earns her a place in television history, as Couric will become the first ever solo female anchor of a network evening newscast. Of course Barbara Walters with Harry Reasoner on ABC in the '70s and Connie Chung with Dan Rather on CBS in the '90s tried, but to no avail. The CBS Evening News has been mired in third place for years and years, and now with Couric about to take the anchor desk it could mean a big boost for the struggling program.
But...have we knew all along? Couric might have had a series of secret talks with CBS executives in the last few weeks, and the deal may have been done without a single press release or a press conference. So it was up to Katie on her own show to make it official herself.
Not only she'll be anchor and managing editor of the Evening News, she'll also moonlight as a contributor for "60 Minutes." That means we'll probably hear her saying "I'm Katie Couric; those stories and Andy Rooney tonight on 60 Minutes." Another reason why Katie is demographics. With countless ways we get our news other than TV, radio, and the papers, Couric wants to appeal to younger viewers considering that she's pushing 50 herself and that many people think watching network evening newscasts is like living in the past...though viewerships are still higher than the cable news channels.
So, what do I think of Katie's big decision? After 1 1/2 decades of spending two hours waking us up every morning, she does look better off giving us the news every evening in a fast-paced world. I doubt CBS will ever fail now that they're going to have Couric. It happened with Walters, it happened with Chung, let's hope and pray it won't happen with Katie Couric come September when the announcer intones those words for the first time: "This is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." And with that, good night.
KATIE COURIC ABOUT TO MAKE TELEVISION HISTORY WITH BIG MOVE
"I wanted to tell all of you out there who have watched the show for the past 15 years that, after listening to my heart and my gut, two things that have served me well in the past, I've decided I'll be leaving "Today" at the end of May."
And with those words, the waiting game was finally over this morning as Katie Couric made her ultimate decision, and that was to make the jump from NBC and the "Today" show to CBS to carry the legacy left over by Dan Rather (and for the last year temporarily, Bob Schieffer) as anchorwoman -- that's right, anchorwoman -- of the "CBS Evening News" this fall.
Her new job offer earns her a place in television history, as Couric will become the first ever solo female anchor of a network evening newscast. Of course Barbara Walters with Harry Reasoner on ABC in the '70s and Connie Chung with Dan Rather on CBS in the '90s tried, but to no avail. The CBS Evening News has been mired in third place for years and years, and now with Couric about to take the anchor desk it could mean a big boost for the struggling program.
But...have we knew all along? Couric might have had a series of secret talks with CBS executives in the last few weeks, and the deal may have been done without a single press release or a press conference. So it was up to Katie on her own show to make it official herself.
Not only she'll be anchor and managing editor of the Evening News, she'll also moonlight as a contributor for "60 Minutes." That means we'll probably hear her saying "I'm Katie Couric; those stories and Andy Rooney tonight on 60 Minutes." Another reason why Katie is demographics. With countless ways we get our news other than TV, radio, and the papers, Couric wants to appeal to younger viewers considering that she's pushing 50 herself and that many people think watching network evening newscasts is like living in the past...though viewerships are still higher than the cable news channels.
So, what do I think of Katie's big decision? After 1 1/2 decades of spending two hours waking us up every morning, she does look better off giving us the news every evening in a fast-paced world. I doubt CBS will ever fail now that they're going to have Couric. It happened with Walters, it happened with Chung, let's hope and pray it won't happen with Katie Couric come September when the announcer intones those words for the first time: "This is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." And with that, good night.
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