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Are people tired of Katie Couric?

I think we've been over this, but a letter
in TV Guide this week makes this worth a
second look. The letter writer thinks
people are getting tired of Katie Couric,
and that she seems to think the Today show
is The Katie Couric Show. Does anyone agree?
Disagree?
 
Re: Katie Couric

It will be interesting to follow Katie Couric's contract negotiations (her current NBC deal will expire in mid-2006).

Unless her popularity nosedives over the next year, she could end up being the highest-paid on-air personality in television (not just television news) history.

Another question is: Will she even want to remain with "Today"??

Unless she gets paired with Brian Williams as a co-anchor (something I can't see happening at this point), an evening anchor chair at NBC will not be in her immediate (read: mid-2006 onward) future. Her only likely option at NBC would be to remain with "Today".

ABC and CBS could both be different stories. She could well be offered an evening news anchor chair by CBS; perhaps even ABC will offer her the big chair, depending on Peter Jennings' health.

At CBS, Bob Schieffer is the interim anchor of the "Evening News". While it's possible that he may relinquish that post as early as this September if a rumored "radical" format change is made to the "Evening News", Schieffer may find himself remaining at the anchor desk until September of 2006, thus giving CBS the chance to offer Couric the anchor chair.

CBS will probably go after Couric with the promise of a firm date (September, 2006) for succeeding Schieffer as the "long-term" anchor of the "Evebing News".

The situation at ABC is far more complex. Peter Jennings is undergoing cancer treatment, and it's anybody's guess when or if he'll return. Even if he does triumphantly return to the "World News Tonight" anchor desk in the next few weeks (or few months), which I personally hope he will, Jennings is 66 years old. Even if he does return to the "WNT" anchor desk, he may not want to stay there for more than a couple of years, tops. I'm sure the thought of retirement has crossed his mind.

Let's assume for a moment that Jennings does return to the anchor desk sometime between now and September, and his health would allow him to stay there for at least a couple of years. Would ABC try to convince Jennings to step down from "WNT" by September, 2006 so they too can make an offer to Couric??

My guess is that the only reasons Couric would stay at NBC would either be: (1) tremendous loyality to the network and agreeing to stay with "Today", or, (2) NBC decides to pair Couric and Williams as co-anchors. In my opinion, the odds that Couric would be offered the co-anchor slot of "NBC Nightly News" as only one in a hundred. In my opinion, the odds of Couric remaining with "Today" are one in four.

I personally think the odds favor Katie Couric anchoring the "CBS Evening News" starting in September of 2006.
 
Re: Katie Couric

I’m hedging my bets that CBS will offer Couric the anchor spot on their evening news.

The average life of a Today Show host is around ten years. That’s how long Couric has been on that program. So it’s time for her to move on to bigger and better things.

After Couric leaves don’t be surprised to see Matt Lauer also depart as co-host of the Today Show. Perhaps Matt will either go to CNN or another cable network to host his own program.

My guess is that Campbell Brown and Lester Holt will eventually be promoted to become the Today Show hosts during the week.
<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
Re: Katie Couric

> It will be interesting to follow Katie Couric's contract
> negotiations (her current NBC deal will expire in mid-2006).
>
>
> Unless her popularity nosedives over the next year, she
> could end up being the highest-paid on-air personality in
> television (not just television news) history.
>
> Another question is: Will she even want to remain with
> "Today"??
>
> Unless she gets paired with Brian Williams as a co-anchor
> (something I can't see happening at this point), an evening
> anchor chair at NBC will not be in her immediate (read:
> mid-2006 onward) future. Her only likely option at NBC would
> be to remain with "Today".
>
> ABC and CBS could both be different stories. She could well
> be offered an evening news anchor chair by CBS; perhaps even
> ABC will offer her the big chair, depending on Peter
> Jennings' health.
>
> At CBS, Bob Schieffer is the interim anchor of the "Evening
> News". While it's possible that he may relinquish that post
> as early as this September if a rumored "radical" format
> change is made to the "Evening News", Schieffer may find
> himself remaining at the anchor desk until September of
> 2006, thus giving CBS the chance to offer Couric the anchor
> chair.
>
> CBS will probably go after Couric with the promise of a firm
> date (September, 2006) for succeeding Schieffer as the
> "long-term" anchor of the "Evebing News".
>
> The situation at ABC is far more complex. Peter Jennings is
> undergoing cancer treatment, and it's anybody's guess when
> or if he'll return. Even if he does triumphantly return to
> the "World News Tonight" anchor desk in the next few weeks
> (or few months), which I personally hope he will, Jennings
> is 66 years old. Even if he does return to the "WNT" anchor
> desk, he may not want to stay there for more than a couple
> of years, tops. I'm sure the thought of retirement has
> crossed his mind.
>
> Let's assume for a moment that Jennings does return to the
> anchor desk sometime between now and September, and his
> health would allow him to stay there for at least a couple
> of years. Would ABC try to convince Jennings to step down
> from "WNT" by September, 2006 so they too can make an offer
> to Couric??
>
> My guess is that the only reasons Couric would stay at NBC
> would either be: (1) tremendous loyality to the network and
> agreeing to stay with "Today", or, (2) NBC decides to pair
> Couric and Williams as co-anchors. In my opinion, the odds
> that Couric would be offered the co-anchor slot of "NBC
> Nightly News" as only one in a hundred. In my opinion, the
> odds of Couric remaining with "Today" are one in four.
>
> I personally think the odds favor Katie Couric anchoring the
> "CBS Evening News" starting in September of 2006.
>

Personally, I hope that Peter Jennings will be able to return to "World News Tonight". I really never thought of Katie leaving NBC though. The whole idea of a co-anchor for the national news show in the evening seems odd, but I guess appropriate since the are co-anchors for many other news shows.<P ID="signature">______________
Kevin</P>
 
Re: Katie Couric

> I’m hedging my bets that CBS will offer Couric the anchor
> spot on their evening news.

I still don't get why CBS or ABC (or for that matter, folks here) think Katie in the evening is a viable concept. She's the epitome of "morning person" and wouldn't be good in any other timeslot at all.

>
> The average life of a Today Show host is around ten years.
> That’s how long Couric has been on that program. So it’s
> time for her to move on to bigger and better things.

Except I don't think there are any. When's the last time someone moved on from mornings to a more substantial news slot and was successful? Brokaw? That was 20+ years ago. And he had a hard news background, which neither Katie nor Matt (not to mention Bryant and Deborah before them) do.
 
Re: Katie Couric

1) I fully expect Couric and Lauer to both depart "Today" within the next 18 months. Besides Mrs. Couric's soon-to-expire contact, the continuing decline of the morning show's ratings will force executive's hands at 30 Rock. Look for Campbell Brown and Lester Holt to take the spots, as they have done well doing the weekend show for awhile now, with a possible format change.

2) I would expect Mrs. Couric to accept a spot at CNN, where she could be groomed to replace Larry King. He's well into his 70s now, and that would be more of her style...and allow her to spend more time at home with her child(ren). I simply cannot see any of the "Big Three" offering her the main anchor desk.

3) If Lauer leaves, that would make a great opening for Seigenthaler, who currently anchors the "Nightly News" on weekends. I would have thought that he would be the primary fill-in when Brian Williams is out, but Campbell Brown has been filling that space rather well...so, has his flame dimmed in recent months? Such a scenario would be per course for NBC, to allow Mr. Seigenthaler a chance to expand the breadth of his experience and exposure...especially with the 2006 elections just ahead.<P ID="signature">______________
Robert Charles Pickering
Lakeland, Florida</P>
 
Re: Katie Couric

> 1) I fully expect Couric and Lauer to both depart "Today"
> within the next 18 months. Besides Mrs. Couric's
> soon-to-expire contact, the continuing decline of the
> morning show's ratings will force executive's hands at 30
> Rock. Look for Campbell Brown and Lester Holt to take the
> spots, as they have done well doing the weekend show for
> awhile now, with a possible format change.
>
(Response) I agree, as mentioned in my previous post, that both Couric and Lauer will leave "Today" in the near future. Campbell Brown and Lester Holt appear to be groomed as the likely successors.

> 2) I would expect Mrs. Couric to accept a spot at CNN,
> where she could be groomed to replace Larry King. He's well
> into his 70s now, and that would be more of her style...and
> allow her to spend more time at home with her child(ren). I
> simply cannot see any of the "Big Three" offering her the
> main anchor desk.

(Response) Sorry but I don't see this scenario happening and I will explain why. Recent ratings show that FOX beats Larry King. Add to that the fact that CNN has been getting rid of some high-paid talent in order to cut costs. So if King decides to "retire" I don't believe CNN will replace him.
>
> 3) If Lauer leaves, that would make a great opening for
> Seigenthaler, who currently anchors the "Nightly News" on
> weekends. I would have thought that he would be the primary
> fill-in when Brian Williams is out, but Campbell Brown has
> been filling that space rather well...so, has his flame
> dimmed in recent months? Such a scenario would be per
> course for NBC, to allow Mr. Seigenthaler a chance to expand
> the breadth of his experience and exposure...especially with
> the 2006 elections just ahead.
>
(Response) Seigenthaler and Williams are around the same age and I don't see Williams leaving the anchor chair for at least another 20 years. That would mean both men would be in their 60s. NBC would promote a younger person to take Brian Williams spot as lead anchor if, in the next two decades, there is even such a position left on network television news. As for Seigenthaler taking Lauer's job on "Today" I still maintain that Lester Holt would be first in line for that spot.


<P ID="signature">______________
"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them".</P>
 
Re: Katie Couric

> > I’m hedging my bets that CBS will offer Couric the anchor
> > spot on their evening news.
>
> I still don't get why CBS or ABC (or for that matter, folks
> here) think Katie in the evening is a viable concept. She's
> the epitome of "morning person" and wouldn't be good in any
> other timeslot at all.
>
> >
> > The average life of a Today Show host is around ten years.
>
> > That’s how long Couric has been on that program. So it’s
> > time for her to move on to bigger and better things.
>
> Except I don't think there are any. When's the last time
> someone moved on from mornings to a more substantial news
> slot and was successful? Brokaw? That was 20+ years ago.
> And he had a hard news background, which neither Katie nor
> Matt (not to mention Bryant and Deborah before them) do.
>
What constitutes "hard news"? Katie certainly was an NBC reporter before she was moved to the Today Show. Matt was a local anchor in New York (but not a news reporter as far as I know). Deborah anchored NBC News at Sunrise and had been a reporter before she was on "Today". Bryant's background was definitely Sports and he knew it (that's why he never wanted to fill in for Brokaw -- even though NBC reportedly asked him several times in the 80's).
 
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