Everybody’s got some explanation for the extinction of a dinosaur (the Evening News). First, according to Dan (see below), it’s because Ms. Katie is “dumbing down” the news; now it’s because, according to CBS honcho Les Moonves, Ms. Katie is a Ms.
Oh, please. Find a new spin doctor someone. We live in an era when a woman is quite possibly on her way to the White House and Moonves wants us to believe that horse hockey. No one (or almost no one) cares whether it’s a man or a woman blabbering on on the Evening News – it’s just that people are tired of the forced blabber. History, technology and everything else moves on…. but not, apparently, CBS, which seems to be sinking fast in the LaBrea tar pits (not far from CBS hq, as it happens).
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14 Comments
1. photoncourier.blogspot.com:This is seriously pathetic. It is like a store that carries merchanidise nobody wants anymore, and blames its poor sales results on “bad weather.”
In business history, there have been many incumbent companies that failed to cope intelligently with the impact of disruptive technology: for example, the big integrated steel companies versus the scrap-based mini-mills. But while the leaders of these companies may have not been terribly bright, they at least didn’t try to blame their failures on “bigoted steel buyers who hate the people of Pittsburgh and Baltimore.”
Sheesh.
Jun 13, 2007 - 10:48 am 2. David Thomson:“No one (or almost no one) cares whether it’s a man or a woman blabbering on on (sic) the Evening News…”
Yes they do. I may the very first person that warned this would likely happen. The audience watching the nightly news is older than the general population. These individuals feel more comfortable seeing a man reading the news. Is this fair? I will wimp out on the question—but that’s the way it is. Moreover, it may be matter of our human nature and not merely a reactionary attitude to be outgrown.
Jun 13, 2007 - 11:30 am 3. freetotem:The generally-accepted demographic for TV evening news is “over 50.” That includes a lot of Baby Boomers. They aren’t watching because they prefer a woman? The fact is the smart people have left because they can get better product elsewhere, so the networks are playing to their dumbed-down audience remainder. Those interested in facts rather than spin get their news elsewhere, so the networks spin even harder to keep their shrinking pool of left-wing viewers. But they too can get better propaganda elsewhere, so even they are leaving. And who the heck is home and on front of the TV at 5:30 anyway? People who don’t go to work? They’ve already been watching cable news all day.
It has nothing, at at least very little, to do with Katie’s gender.
Jun 13, 2007 - 12:02 pm 4. Barbara Skolaut:“CBS, which seems to be sinking fast in the LaBrea tar pits (not far from CBS hq, as it happens)”
I visited the Tar Pits the one time I was in LA. Just like SeeBS, they stank – but the odor wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as CBS’s.
Jun 13, 2007 - 12:14 pm 5. sammy small:Maybe its time for CBS to go “naked” with their news. I’m sure that would increase their ratings. At least it would bring in a younger crowd.
Jun 13, 2007 - 12:16 pm 6. David:If CBS was delievering a quality product I would watch it even if Amber Fry (spell?) was readubg it. And I am a member of the older demographic.
Jun 13, 2007 - 12:36 pm 7. David:Pimf, lost my “home keys” apparently.
Jun 13, 2007 - 12:38 pm 8. Steven Mitchell:I don’t know whether the female gender is causing a dropoff in the aging CBS viewers or not. Could be. I seriously suspect that having an anchor hiding her knives behind a perky exterior is probably not helping any. A male anchor with a similar personality would probably go over about as well.
But then, I haven’t watched the nightly news for more than a few minutes in a decade, and that only for election returns. And I find Fox somewhat irritating because of excessive perkiness (male and female), so it might only be my biases talking.
Jun 13, 2007 - 1:54 pm 9. Lem:Moonves must be drunk on the moon.
“And Ive hocked all my yesterdays
Dont try and change my tune
cause I thought I heard a saxophone
Im drunk on the moon”
Didn’t Katie take a pay cut to do that “job”? As far as I know nobody put a gun to her head. How does this guy gets away insulting our intelligence like that?
I got channels I haven’t been to yet because I can’t channel surface that long without something… anything catching my interest.
And I don’t even have a deluxe package.
Face it by the time the “news” is on, the thing is so stale is like Chinese left over.
Jun 13, 2007 - 1:55 pm 10. scaramouoche:Sure it’s on the fridge, but will anybody eat it?
I don’t pay much attention to these “dino” newscasts anymore, but on the odd occasion when I happened to catch Katie’s performance, it has seemed to me that, well, she’s just not very good.
Jun 13, 2007 - 2:50 pm 11. ricpic:O where O where is John Cameron Swazie and the fifteen minutes of who, what, when, where, how, that he used to serve up.
If the suits that run CBS would just bring back that simple straightforward format I’d bet they’d have a hit on their hands.
Jun 13, 2007 - 4:31 pm 12. ricpic:D’oh. Swayze.
Jun 13, 2007 - 4:33 pm 13. JorgXMcKie:You know, CBS might try putting some actual news on the CBSNews. I barely watch any evening MSM news anymore, but I check occasionally just to see if they’ve changed. Nope. And Couric is about one-half step above pathetic.
She reminds me of that old Doonesbury where the newsguy is reading ‘the news’ and says something like “This just in. I’m not wearing any pants.” She gives two impressions: 1) she’ll read anything put in front of her, and 2) her ‘take’ is more important than the facts.
Also, the afternoon radio station I listen to on the way home from work unfortunately broadcasts a piece called “Katie’s Journal” or some such. Hypothetically it written by Katie. It’s the most pathetic mush I’ve ever heard on a regular basis on radio, honestly. She writes (or someone does) like a pampered 17-rear-old cheerleader who is full of herself and thinks everything she notices is being seen for the first time, like, ever, and she’s reporting to a bunch of low-IQ Girl Scouts.
Look, maybe for fluff in the early AM Couric is fine. I wouldn’t know, I can’t watch that crap. But she is an unmitigated disaster as a ‘news anchor’ (whatever the hell that means today) on a major program. I’m beginning to get the idea that our MSM masters are very angry by the rebellion among the Great Unwashed.
Jun 14, 2007 - 9:53 am 14. LemonDrop:Personally I believe the reason Couric’s a failure is because we know too much about her personal views.
Take ABC’s Charlie Gibson. He has a decent rating and he isn’t controversial like Couric!
Jun 15, 2007 - 7:54 pm