Katie Couric Kicks NBC to the Curb For CBS

Newsflash - It's annoying to keep typing newsflash in an attempt to be sarcastistic. Niggtly news is going the way of the dodo, and is being replaced by 24 hour cable news broadcasts. It's just not as relevant as it once was. I personally will be glad to see Couric go. I wishthat Soledad never left. I like Elizabeth Vargas, or Natalie Morales as co anchor. Meredith Viera seems a little -blech- to me...

If CBS wanted to go the "female to attract the guys" route, they should have stayed in-house. Lara Logan has the journalistic background to follow Rather. And she's a lot better looking than Couric, with that "exotic accent" thing to boot. Of course, she lives in England, so that makes anchoring from the States a little problematic now that they've killed the Concorde.

Ko-jack:

Apology accepted. However, it might not be a good idea to give up your day job anytime soon for one in comedy.

I'm sorry jizz. But I was stating a matter of fact.

Hes an old man way past his prime that needs to be replaced.

But I did get a kick out of my own joke, thank you.

pugsley--

What part of "spinning in his grave" was meant to be non-literal?

mike wallace is spinning in his grave.

[17] Posted by: pugsley | April 5, 2006 12:38 PM

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Or, at least, spinning in his bed. (Though this might kill him.)

newsflash for jeez - I wasn't being literal, but was pointing out that Moonves has given mike's office to katie. The whole thing seems to be a CBS news strategy of positioning themselves as the FOX news for lefties. maybe the newsroom will feel better now that they've come out of the closet. It's no secret that FOX cleans up in the ratings so CBS is just taking the opposite extreme and may well make a lot of cash. With the internet I don't know why anyone watches network news. Mike Wallace is still the exception though. Also still think Amanpour has better investigative legs than Katie.

Newsflash for Kojak--

You're actually not as funny as you think you are.

Elizabeth Vargas has the journalistic chops to be an authentic news anchor. Couric does not. Lauer doesn't either. It's more about experience and the work than gender. And Couric's work (one primetime hour on the runaway bride, shmaltzy specials on teen sex) hardly make me want to run to her during the next "turn on your TV now" national crisis. With Couric, you always get the sense that it's more about her than the story. Not so with other strong women of journalism such as Lesley Stahl and Christianne Amanpour.

Vieira, by the way, was on 60 Minutes and a CBS newsmagazine show called West 57th before the suits decided that her desire to be a mother should put an upper limit on her career. Glad to see she's getting back in touch with at least a little of her news background.

Wallace is almost 90 years old and could probably kick all of our butts.

Good riddance. For years it seems that all she can talk about is herself. Every interview turns into how she parents, or where she's vacationed, or what she wears. Ick.

I was actually really liking Alexis Glick over the summer. I guess she can't take on the big role, but I hope they keep her around.

Yes he is. He’s what we call a 'walking corpse'

Newsflash for pugsley--

Mike Wallace is not spinning in his grave because he is NOT DEAD.

Samantha,

Matt Lauer's a putz too..There feel better..? I just think allot of people are disappointed in CBS for lowering their standards, to try to overtake NBC in the ratings...

charlie gibson is now charles gibson on gma. first time i noticed that was when he moderated the prez debates. i still find it odd.

I don't understand why CBS chose Katie Couric over someone like John Roberts or Russ Mitchell. If I were at CBS, I would have chosen John Roberts, who left for CNN recently. He has the experience, the gravitas and is relatively young compared to Bob Schieffer.

I wonder what ever happened to Forrest Sawyer?

I enjoy my little dose of Katie in the morning. I wake up at six and turn to the Today show promptly at 7am.

I'm not a big fan of the American Idol, should-i-get-a-predicure segments either but do you really think it's Katie who sits around thinking that these are the important stories of the day? C'mon guys there are producers who dictate things like that. An the Today is a national morning program. The general audience for that is not really expecting or wanting hard-hitting news broadcasts first thing in the morning. At the same time, she really has brought to our attention important health and wellness issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. I don't really want to see a colonoscopy but I'm glad I know about it know.

On the other hand, the reason Anne Curry isn't getting promoted is because the woman can barely string together a coherent sentence. Her interview style consists of putting a finger to her chin and shaking her head in a concerned question while putting on a "serious tone" to all her questions.

I'm not too happy about Meredith Viera either. But she hosted the View and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire so I'm sure she'll fire off some really hard-hitting questions.

Wonder if the reaction'd be the same had Matt Lauer been chosen? Couric grates on me as much as the next person, but a lot of the commentary here is awfully gendered. Jus' sayin'.

"the news is just as bad in other countries too, it's not just the U.S. where it's been dumbed down to tabloid journalism"

I wouldnt include BBC on that list. I regard them as the best and more professional international news source there is. They reach and report on more topics in more parts of the world then CNN or NBC.

Ann Curry? She is the WORST interviewer. She's ok right where she is - reading news blurbs. I thought they might go for Campbell Brown.

Channel 4 for news: Sue Simmons, Chuck Scarborough & Brian Williams.

What a sham. Couric is as irritating as biting the inside of your cheek for a third time in an hour.

What about Lara Logan? Brilliant, daring and beautiful (she's constantly in Iraq and Afghanistan). She has cojones and some sense about her. Well, for those reasons, she probably does _not_ want it.

What someone should be doing is calling the CBS News staff to hear what they have to say. If I were a producer and now had to file my reports to a snotty, not-very-pretty talking head that lacks charm and has for years now been doing fluff, I'd be angry.

What happened to her face. She seems to have undergone some recent procedures that give her an unnatural human photoshop look. I agree that she's no amanpour. mike wallace is spinning in his grave.

She'll go by Katie, just like Thomas Brokaw went by Tom. The problem isn't what she calls herself so much as it is her utter lack of substance. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Don Hewitt's house or Mike Wallace's office, as part of her deal is that she'll contribute to 60 Minutes. The Oprah-fication of the evening news is complete.

But will she go by her given name, Katherine Couric, as she did many moons ago?

The Murrow Boys network is officially dead.

Katie Couric? Ted Baxter had more gravitas.

This is just the latest manifestation of the corporate belief that news is supposed to generate profits, and if it takes mindless entertainment to get the rubes to watch, well, that's what they'll give us. When I was a boy and read how the corrupt politicians of ancient Rome kept the citizens minds off the decaying state of the Empire with abundant "bread and circuses", I wondered how the people could be so dumb. Now I'm getting to see it first hand. Nice tent, Katie. Doing an interview with Bozo next, so he can tell us how the war is making us all safer?

It's no wonder I, like a growing number of literate people, still read a newspaper but use the internet rather than television as a news source.

The last I saw of Norville she was hosting one of those syndicated tabloid-y "Current Affair" type shows. I really felt bad for all the public hatred she had to endure after replacing Pauley. It wasn't her fault and she didn't deserve to go out the way she did. Yeah, she was just another vapid blonde TV personality that paled in comparison to Jane, but come on, she was a helluva lot better than Couric!

the news is just as bad in other countries too, it's not just the U.S. where it's been dumbed down to tabloid journalism

Anyone here old enough to remember the Debbie Norville fiasco, that led to Couric getting this job? What ever happened to her?

FYI Jane Pauley (?) the 60's generation's favorite female broadcaster and Queen of their 80s phase was going to be dumped because (like the Who) she failed to die before she got old. She was to be replaced by a younger and blonder Norville. Norville was so despised that she, too had to be dumped, thus leading to the entry of Couric.

CBS nightly news was the only half hour network news I would watch, bringing Couric on board is a real step backwards. She is one of the worst tabloid journalists in the business. From now on it's only The news hour on PBS or the BBC..

Why can't we have Christiane Amanpour?

Just another sign this country is catering to the lowest common denominator (Again. GWB, I am looking at you.) We are officially so dumb we have to have Katie Freaking Couric read our news to us.

I wonder if after reporting on the war in Iraq, Katie will lighten the mood a little... "On a lighter note...I met up with Paris Hilton this afternoon to discuss her new perfume line..."

No wonder other countries laugh at us.

Edward, Walter, Tom, Peter....Katie? A national nightly news anchorperson named...KATIE?

Really?

Wow.

Jesus... Katie Couric replacing Dan Rather... CBS News is now officially in the crapper.

I can't wait for the CBS Evening News, the ancestral home of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, to start running weekly features on The Apprentice, American Idol, and Survivor.

Meanwhile, all props to Meredith Viera, who was a real reporter before being cast out into the hinterlands of The View by the same CBS News. Saved from tele-journalism purgatory by the Today show.

I think they should replace her with Star(ship) Jones. Now, that would definitely be a coup. No?

why not anne curry for promotion? she seems due

will she punch the field reporters if they are sitting next to her?

I won't miss her for a second. She is quite possibily the biggest bitch on morning television: she treats her cameramen and sound techs like shit, and takes shots at her cohosts. I wish she got fired before she had the CBS spot.

Does this mean we can expect to see interviews with the runaway bride on 60 Minutes?