Will She Or Won't She??: The Latest On Katie Couric

[Joseph_Gallant]

Tonight (November 30th, "Access Hollywood" (this is a link to a partial transcript of the segment) interviewed Katie Couric and her "Today Show" colleagues Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Ann Curry.

The major topic of the conversation was whether Couric would stay with NBC, or leave the network to jump to CBS and become anchor of their "Evening News" (there have been reports and gossip on the Internet that CBS is offering Couric $25 million a year to make the switch). As you know, Bob Schieffer has been interim anchor of the "Evening News" since former longtime anchor Dan Rather somewhat abruptly the program last March.

Based on some of the things said in that segment, it's my guess Couric is as good as gone. I believe her current salary at NBC is $13 million a year (the highest annual salary in television news), but I can't see NBC offering her more than $17 million a year (maybe $18 million) to stay with "Today". Unless she has tremendous loyality to NBC, and would be willing to stay for under $18 million a year, Couric will leave. I can't see NBC matching the rumored CBS offer (and I stress that the CBS offer is only a rumor).

Couric's contract with NBC doesn't expire until the end of next May, so if she does jump networks, she probably wouldn't be able to take over the "CBS Evening News" any earlier than next September, around the time the 2006/2007 Fall television season begins.

However, I see a scanario that could see Couric move a little sooner. I can even see CBS offering to pay NBC to let Couric out of her contract earlier than May 31st. Perhaps Couric might be able to leave NBC at the end of February, with her last appearance on NBC being on the February 27th "Today Show", which happens to be the day after the Winter Olympics end. This would "free" Couric to join CBS in early March and perhaps allow her to take over the "Evening News" anchor desk at the end of April, around the time the May sweeps begin.

The end of Bob Schieffer's stint as "interim" anchor of the "CBS Evening News" is in sight.

 

[nuzguy]

> Tonight (November 30th, "Access Hollywood" (this is a link
> to a partial transcript of the segment) interviewed Katie
> Couric and her "Today Show" colleagues Matt Lauer, Al Roker
> and Ann Curry.
>
> The major topic of the conversation was whether Couric would
> stay with NBC, or leave the network to jump to CBS and
> become anchor of their "Evening News" (there have been
> reports and gossip on the Internet that CBS is offering
> Couric $25 million a year to make the switch). As you know,
> Bob Schieffer has been interim anchor of the "Evening News"
> since former longtime anchor Dan Rather somewhat abruptly
> the program last March.
>
> Based on some of the things said in that segment, it's my
> guess Couric is as good as gone. I believe her current
> salary at NBC is $13 million a year (the highest annual
> salary in television news), but I can't see NBC offering her
> more than $17 million a year (maybe $18 million) to stay
> with "Today". Unless she has tremendous loyality to NBC, and
> would be willing to stay for under $18 million a year,
> Couric will leave. I can't see NBC matching the rumored CBS
> offer (and I stress that the CBS offer is only a rumor).
>
> Couric's contract with NBC doesn't expire until the end of
> next May, so if she does jump networks, she probably
> wouldn't be able to take over the "CBS Evening News" any
> earlier than next September, around the time the 2006/2007
> Fall television season begins.
>
> However, I see a scanario that could see Couric move a
> little sooner. I can even see CBS offering to pay NBC to let
> Couric out of her contract earlier than May 31st. Perhaps
> Couric might be able to leave NBC at the end of February,
> with her last appearance on NBC being on the February 27th
> "Today Show", which happens to be the day after the Winter
> Olympics end. This would "free" Couric to join CBS in early
> March and perhaps allow her to take over the "Evening News"
> anchor desk at the end of April, around the time the May
> sweeps begin.
>
> The end of Bob Schieffer's stint as "interim" anchor of the
> "CBS Evening News" is in sight.
>
A tidy bundle of scheckles, 25 million. Remember when ABC ponied up an even million for Barbara Walters when she came on board 29 years ago? Recall Tom Snyder's comment--"Anyone can pull down a mil in television news--it's as easy as A-B-C." (followed by the Snyder guffaw)

 

[Mark_Giardina]

Katie Couric

If, and I emphasize the word IF, CBS was smart, they would get their team of lawyers together and try to get Couric out of her “Today Show” contract with NBC ASAP.

Not that I think that Couric would be the savior of the “CBS Evening News” but instead the timing is right to make such a move.

I base my observations on the fact that ABC’s “World News Tonight” is still in limbo when it comes to a main anchor since Peter Jennings’ death a few short months ago.

So while ABC is playing musical chairs with a series of anchors, this would be the perfect time for CBS to bring someone on board that is familiar to the viewing public.

With that said, one only has to look at history to understand that bringing on board a well known personality doesn’t always mean success for a news program. I point to Harry Reasoner’s move from CBS to ABC, where he co-anchored ABC’s nightly news. That turned out to be such a ratings disaster that Reasoner eventually moved back to CBS and 60 Minutes, where he remained with that program until his death. The same scenario can be said for numerous markets where one anchor jumped ship to another station, only to fall on his, or hers, face.

Should Katie Couric decide to take the money and run to CBS she still faces a tough mountain to climb considering that Brian Williams has established himself as the top dog. ABC is a distant second; even with the musical chairs anchor system that network currently has in place. So if CBS believes that it will be nirvana by bringing Couric on board, the executives of that network better stop smoking their socks and come to reality.

Personally I believe that Couric will go to CBS for a number of reasons, money of course being one of them. The other is that history shows that the “Today Show” hosts last normally about a decade or so then move on to other ventures. Why do you think NBC brought a third person on board with Katie and Matt? The purpose was to introduce her to the Today Show audience just in case either Couric or Lauer bail. Even with “Good Morning America” breathing down its back, NBC won’t counter-offer CBS. And even if it did, the chances are that Couric might have the foresight to see that eventually GMA will catch up and surpass Today. So its best to bail out while still king, or in this case, queen of the mountain.

<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>

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Katie Couric

>
>
>
> With that said, one only has to look at history to
> understand that bringing on board a well known personality
> doesn’t always mean success for a news program. I point to
> Harry Reasoner’s move from CBS to ABC, where he co-anchored
> ABC’s nightly news. That turned out to be such a ratings
> disaster that Reasoner eventually moved back to CBS and 60
> Minutes, where he remained with that program until his
> death. The same scenario can be said for numerous markets
> where one anchor jumped ship to another station, only to
> fall on his, or hers, face.

I disagree that Reasoner's time at ABC was a ratings disaster.
He and Howard K. Smith co-anchored for nearly five years (1970-75),
and ABC was often ahead of John Chancellor and the NBC Nightly
News (they never beat Cronkite). In 1975 Reasoner decided he
wanted to be sole anchor, and that's when the ratings began
to slip. A year later ABC brought in Barbara Walters as
co-anchor, and we all know how that worked out.

As for Katie Couric, my concern would be whether the public sees
her as a journalist or a personality. Tom Brokaw was host of
the Today show from 1976-82, but he had covered the White House
for NBC during Watergate; Charlie Gibson is definitely perceived
as a journalist. If the public decides Katie Couric is not a
bona-fide journalist, that could spell trouble if she does get
the CBS anchor job. The public's expectations for its 6:30 PM
anchors are, I believe, a bit different from what they see at
7 AM.

I still think John Roberts ought to have the CBS job; if not
him, then CBS should go after Aaron Brown.
>
>
>
>
>
>

 

[Mark_Giardina]

Re: Katie Couric

> I still think John Roberts ought to have the CBS job; if not
>
> him, then CBS should go after Aaron Brown.



I'll go one even better. Ted Koppel.

<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>

 

[radiolover78]

Re: Katie Couric

> > I still think John Roberts ought to have the CBS job; if
> not
> >
> > him, then CBS should go after Aaron Brown.
>
>
>
> I'll go one even better. Ted Koppel.
>

Or maybe ABC or CBS can offer Lou Dobbs or Andersen Cooper for their nightly newscasts. Or maybe one of them will go after Aaron Brown.

The Katie Couric situation is interesting and I will sure follow this one. I think she wouldn't do so well with CBS Evening News. For some reason, I don't see that working out. NBC better figure out something, because their top spot for morning news is in trouble since GMA is, like someone else said, "breathing down their backs". In past discussions, people have suggested that Charles Gibson moved to ABC World News Tonight, but would it be worth changing GMA? That too has been discussed, but lets talk again, since there is more possible "information" and rumors, along with new speculations.
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[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Katie Couric

I think that whoever becomes the future anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight" depends on whether or not Katie Couric leaves NBC.

If Couric does leave NBC, I think ABC will want to keep the "Good Morning America" co-host team of Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer intact, for "GMA" could become the number-one network morning show, and likely a dominant number-one at that. However, I could see Gibson, instead of whoever replaces Peter Jennings on "WNT", inheriting the job of anchoring special events and breaking news. Gibson has shown to be quite excellent at it over the last few months.

In the unlikely (to me) event Couric stays with "Today", then I could see ABC moving Gibson from "GMA" to "WNT". Otherwise, Elizabeth Vargas or Aaron Brown (if ABC hries him back) will get "WNT". In either event, as noted above, I expect Gibson to become the "face and voice" of ABC News' television coverage of special event and breaking news.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Katie Couric

Mark Giardana suggested a candidate:

> I'll go one even better. Ted Koppel.

Ted Koppel is 65, and only would likely be in the anchor chair for a few years.

And I don't think he's really that interested in anchoring a network evening newscast. If he were, I think that he would have delayed his departure from ABC for five or six years to take over "WNT" for that period of time, "taking one for the team".

After Frank Reynolds died in 1983, Koppel was actually ABC's first choice to become anchor of "World News Tonight". Koppel was called-in to a meeting with then-ABC News president Roone Arledge and then-network chairman Leonard Goldenson, who offered him the job. Koppel refused, saying something like "Thanks, but no thanks. I enjoy working at 'Nightline', and I don't think I'm the right man for 'World News Tonight'. I think you should hire Peter Jennings for the 'World News Tonight'; he'll make you number-one in the evening news".

Indeed, based on Koppel's recomendation, Peter Jennings got the job, and sure enough, "WNT" was number-one in the evening-news ratings for most of the late 1980's and the 1990's.

 

[HomerJay]

Re: Katie Couric

> I think that whoever becomes the future anchor of ABC's
> "World News Tonight" depends on whether or not Katie Couric
> leaves NBC.
>
> If Couric does leave NBC, I think ABC will want to keep the
> "Good Morning America" co-host team of Charles Gibson and
> Diane Sawyer intact, for "GMA" could become the number-one
> network morning show, and likely a dominant number-one at
> that. However, I could see Gibson, instead of whoever
> replaces Peter Jennings on "WNT", inheriting the job of
> anchoring special events and breaking news. Gibson has shown
> to be quite excellent at it over the last few months.
>
> In the unlikely (to me) event Couric stays with "Today",
> then I could see ABC moving Gibson from "GMA" to "WNT".
> Otherwise, Elizabeth Vargas or Aaron Brown (if ABC hries him
> back) will get "WNT". In either event, as noted above, I
> expect Gibson to become the "face and voice" of ABC News'
> television coverage of special event and breaking news.
>
Bob Woodruff is in the mix at ABC, too. It's possible you're looking at a Vargas/Woodruff pairing down the road.