If Time Magazine, as reported by Drudge, is correct in its handicapping of replacements for Dan “Tricky Dick” Rather as anchor of the CBS Evening News, the fusty solons of CBS are at least consistent. They continue their extraordinary ability to think inside the box. Not one original name appears on their list. But no matter. If they do wait sixteen months for frontrunner Katie Couric, the whole pompous concept of the six o’clock evening news may have gone the way of our friend the mammoth.
(If I had to make a choice from their list, it would be Anderson Cooper. But stop prolonging the agony. Put the beast to death.)
UPDATE: Also interesting in the report are rumors of a CBS/CNN amalgamation. Considering the recent past of CNN, it should be a perfect fit.
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28 Comments
1. Zed:I’m sure Copper would shoot a load if he got that job. I have issues with Cooper, something about watching a guy in his mid-30’s with all grey hair, bugs me. When I was in high school he worked at that station just for schools, ya know to enlighten us. I still see him as being a youth targeting reporter. He will never shake that image in my eyes. yup, he would shoot a load.
Jan 16, 2005 - 9:39 am 2. David Thomson:A woman would probably get poor ratings during that time period. The older crowd still wants to see a comforting male presence. Does that make me a male chauvinist pig? Oh well, such is life. Katie Couric also brings in tons of advertising revenue at her present job. She therefore rightfully earns a huge paycheck. Do any of the networks even break even with their evening news programs? Why pay Couric an astronomical salary to anchor a consistent money loser? It is very doubtful that history can be reversed in this instance. The importance of the evening news hour is a thing of the past. It may not completely disappear—but the economics donít justify paying for top shelf talent.
Jan 16, 2005 - 9:46 am 3. Roger:Dvid Thomson asks: “Does that make me a male chauvinist pig?”
The answer is yes. Moreover, I think he’s dead wrong. The most commercial thing about Couric as an anchorperson is that she is a woman.
Jan 16, 2005 - 9:56 am 4. charlotte:Couric is the perfect leftie for CBS, and she does display a certain gravitas, scowling and grimacing whenever a Repub is mentioned on her current morning show. She’d fit right in with patronizing Jennings and oh-so-worried Brian Williams. I often turn the sound down on the evening (I hate to call it) news to watch facial expressions as items are reported. The body language tells me as much about their politics as do their carefully chosen words and images.
So, why not a woman? Couric is smart, and her political agenda fits the mold.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:23 am 5. David Thomson:ìThe most commercial thing about Couric as an anchorperson is that she is a woman.î
I definitely agree that Couric is very effective during the morning hours. And yes, the fact that she is a woman is a strong plus. But this particular discussion revolves around the evening hours! This time slot is usually viewed by people who are at least 40 years old. These folks prefer to see a ìcomfortingî man. I have, though, no hard evidence to back up my theory. Itís admittedly just a hunch.
The NY Mets recently signed Carlos Beltran to a multimillion dollar contract. Are they going to dispatch this superstar to the minor leagues? Of course not. So why should a major TV network assign an expensive talent to the boondocks?
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:24 am 6. jedrury:Couric, a former local DC news reporter, has successfully performed her stint on Today over the years as the girl next door. She mixes humour and gal pal giggles with the celebs hawking their books and movies on her morning show with Matt Lauer. This does not translate to “anchor cred.” When she does hard news or political interviews, she tenses up and loses her girl next door appeal. She is a right fit in the morning but not on the evening news.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:26 am 7. Terrye:It doesn’t matter to me I will never watch CBS again no matter who they put in the chair, besides I think the chair needs to be thrown out.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:31 am 8. Truzenzuzex:Of the candidates, the only one I see that is even the least bit less ideologically liberal than Rather is John Roberts.
Odds are therefore against him getting the job.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:39 am 9. jedrury:Brian Williams is pumping more news stories in the first ten minutes of his nightly news program than I have seen in a long time. He is scripted very well, his editors are requiring him to be short and focused. He moves well from story to story with ease and “anchor cred.” He is gaining watchers and has made the transition very well
in my opinion. One gets the sense that GE, parent to NBC, is an apolitical machine, toning down the bias and focusing on the bottom line.
Network news watchers are not going to watch Couric just because she is a woman [if that what Roger means but his comments to David]. Viewers are hopefully beyond gender issues. They look for “anchor cred,” a phrase I have used three time which means to me the right mix of gravitas, experience and appearance. Moving beyond Rather, Brokaw and soon Jennings, TV anchors will change racially and genderwise but each new one will need the requisites noted above.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:44 am 10. David Thomson:ìShe is a right fit in the morning but not on the evening news.î
Many viewers perceive the morning shows as fluff. The evening hours are for the serious stuff. A man often serves as some sort of father figure. Is this fair? It may not be, but thatís the way it is. I fail to see the evening news ever again being profitable. Itís almost a sure money loser. And if Iím right—why pay the big bucks to an anchor person? Why not pick a secondary talent to perform this minor league function?
Roger and I are men of an earlier generation. Thus, the evening hour newscast captures our interest. The younger generation could care less. Watching any network news program at 6 PM is a completely alien experience.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:50 am 11. charlotte:jedrury,
The new NBC rapid-fire news pacing seems almost frantic to me. The tone is one of urgency and concern, and the underlying script is still one of negativism wrt to Bush policy both at home and overseas. I agree that the network has punched up their approach in a long overdue overhaul, but the news angles still seem awfully partisan and defeatist. This viewer was hoping for a fresh take on political reporting and a somewhat less politicized take on the news, in general. No such luck, though. And CBS most likely won’t revamp its politicized approach to reportage, either. The networks are tinkering with externals and not dealing with their basic bias and cred problems. Yeah, sure, it’s all about the face on our sets—
Jan 16, 2005 - 11:02 am 12. David Thomson:ìViewers are hopefully beyond gender issues.î
Marketing specialist cannot merely rely on what people consciously say about gender issues. They must find out what individual actually feel in their heart of hearts. I recall that an automobile manufacturer once did some polling to learn what kind of car the public preferred. The respondents initially claimed that they wanted a practical and down to earth vehicle. They were then asked what their next door neighbor might desire. The latter family would most likely purchase a stylish auto able to zoom quickly down the highway was the answer. The resulting snazzy car was a huge commercial success.
Jan 16, 2005 - 11:15 am 13. Ed Poinsett:I can’t remember the last time our family watched an evening news program on any of the big three. Occasionally we’ve watched Brit Hume on Fox, but not as regulars, primarily to see the panel discussions.
Don’t watch Katie or any of the big three in the morning either, so there’s no reason to believe that we’d watch her in the evening. In fact, the TV is rarely on in our house between dawn and dusk.
Out of habit, we buy the Sunday paper but not for news. We voraciously scour the internet to get our daily dosage of real news and opinions. The RSS link is up all the time looking for breaking stories.
I’m beyond redemption when it comes to network news. To be honest, there is some CBS entertainment programming which I enjoy. They should stick to that.
Jan 16, 2005 - 11:22 am 14. David Thomson:ìI’m beyond redemption when it comes to network news. To be honest, there is some CBS entertainment programming which I enjoy. They should stick to that.î
But they canít stick to that! The FCC demands a certain amount of public service programing. The major networks look at their news division as a money loser. It is the per se entertainment programs that bring in the profits. I suspect that in another five years our elected officials might cut them some slack and allow the networks to mostly get out of the news business.
Jan 16, 2005 - 11:52 am 15. jedrury:To David and Charlotte:
If I was Robert Wright of GE/NBC, I would look at Williams and the present dismal state of network news and decide, as a bottomline executive, make Williams the anti-Rather, tone down anti-Bush rhetoric on the network, move with faster paced news and not permit Williams to become a political lighting rod early on. I think that this is what he has done.
Wright must be thinking how many eyeballs can I take from CBS [which has to loosing viewers at a terrific rate with all this bad press].
To gain anchor cred, CBS would be smart to
hire Koppel who has cred already, can move effortlessly into an anchor job and, from all reports, is about to lose his Nightline gig anyways.
Jan 16, 2005 - 12:34 pm 16. charlotte:I agree with your assessment, jedrury, except for the toned down anti-Bush part. Williams’ stories still sound relentlessly negative to me.
Unless, of course, you mean that Williams hasn’t actually presented forged papers against our sitting President and that this constitutes less overt bias against Bush and Republican policy— Well, yes, I could agree with that!
Jan 16, 2005 - 12:47 pm 17. richard mcenroe:How ’bout Larry O’Donnell for CBS anchor? Oughta fit right in.
Jan 16, 2005 - 2:46 pm 18. charlotte:O’Donnell’s good, but how about Co- nan- O- Bri- en? Ivy Leaguer. Manhattanite. Hopelessly leftist. Has anchorman dream hair. Can make cool faces at the cam. His version of current events is always a joke, much like Rather’s. Has to wait too many years for the Tonight Show gig.
Bonus- comes with his own Triumph, the Insult Interview dog, who is more dispassionate and professional than the other CBS reporters.
Jan 16, 2005 - 3:46 pm 19. JBR:I suggest Michael Moore– ideologically he would be perfect.
Jan 16, 2005 - 3:46 pm 20. richard mcenroe:JBR ó CBS doesn’t broadcast its news in widescreen yet.
Jan 16, 2005 - 5:10 pm 21. photoncourier.blogspot.com:It would be interesting to do the following business case study. Suppose you were running a network, and also suppose that (a)your objective was the well-being of your shareholders, and (b)you were not overly intimidated by your own employees. What would be the proper way to run the news function, both right now and in the future, to maximize objective (a)?
Jan 16, 2005 - 5:51 pm 22. Kevin P:Roger:
Katie would do just fine. She is very good at reading a teleprompter, when she is doing a serious story she will wear her glasses to give the appearence of gravitas, and she has a smooth delivery and a nice smile. The myth that you have to be a reporter, the Mapes scandall exposes this fact perfectly, and that these anchors are nothing but newsreaders and actors should not exclude Katie. Katie would be able to do what Dan, Peter, and Tom have done for years and the fact that she has a huge following and is a woman would help a floundering CBS. She could hardly do worse then Dan and there is no reason not to try her. Not that I would watch her, or any male replacement either, but I doubt that she uses anymore hairspray then the male newsreaders do.
Jan 16, 2005 - 6:35 pm 23. jedrury:PhotoCourier:
GE is a corporation more concerned about its shareholders than Viacom or Disney. You run the network like NBC is run; opinion reigns on its cable appendages(CNBC and MCNBC); clean up the network news by moderating its political edge
in a conservative country and a changing media environment, thus increasing viewers and ad rates; buy a movie operation to feed your productions and run a tight fiscal ship in Hollywood.
GE, the platinium card of American corporation, has a long tradition of making money for its shareholders and it is run by serious money people. It is not like Disney [which if
you read Jim Stewart's latest piece in the New Yorker] is run by a child and it is not Viacom which has a real corporate identity crisis.
Jan 16, 2005 - 8:18 pm 24. Homer:Rogers right. Lets open up the anchor coffin, pound that stake in, and be done with it. Oh, and lots of sunshine to get rid of the stink. Better that way.
Jan 16, 2005 - 10:01 pm 25. photoncourier.blogspot.com:I agree that GE/NBC does a better news job than the other two networks….but I don’t think we’ve seen the same level of creativity from the news business at NBC that we’ve seen from other NBC businesses.
It would be fun if Immelt would bring in somebody from a totally different business, like locomotive, medical, or appliance, to run NBC News. Might get some very different approaches to things.
Jan 17, 2005 - 8:19 am 26. PJ:I’m with Ed, I rarely watch the TV “news” anymore so their choice of anchor is irrelevant. I switched off Brian Williams the first time I tuned him in after he said that supplies were “trickling in” from the US bunglers. This, after our military had been there for at least 10 days pouring in rescue supplies.
I did watch 60 Minutes last night, thinking that the election is over and it would be safe, and was astonished to see a segment on G from Baghdad as a reporter embedded with the terrorists in Iraq! I would have had him arrested. Sickening.
CBS News, Katie or no Katie–they’re down for the count.
Jan 17, 2005 - 10:40 am 27. rgvdh:Jon Stewart!
At least he admits when he’s making stuff up….
Jan 18, 2005 - 3:55 pm 28. Vote On Paper:Katie Couric has the “Mary Hart Effect” on this household. Would Jorge Ramos be a fit for CBS? We live out of satellite range and have never seen him.
“Consider this tantalizing fact: more New Yorkers get their news in Spanish from Jorge Ramos on “Noticiero Univision” than in English from Dan Rather on “The CBS Evening News.”
Louis Nevaer, Pacific News Service, October 13, 2004
“Univision’s Ramos is Rather-Brokaw-Jennings rolled into one, and a prolific author as well.”
Newsday, January 20, 2004
One of “The Ten Most Admired Latinos”
Latino Leaders magazine. January 31, 2003
“One of this country’s highest rated network news anchors”.
Nightline (ABC) March 2, 2001
“Star newscaster of Hispanic TV. Hispanic TV’s No 1 correspondent and key to a huge voting bloc.”
The Wall Street Journal
“The anchor for Univision’s evening news, Jorge Ramos, he’s actually bigger than Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw — at least in Miami, Los Angeles and Houston, where his newscast consistently beats out all the other networks for the top ratings.”
The Miami Herald
Jan 30, 2005 - 5:41 am