Katie Couric by John Paul Filo/CBS
CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric has landed the second broadcast network interview with Sarah Palin — the first such sit-down since the infamous Tina Fey-SNL skit.According to A HREF="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TV_COURIC_PALIN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-09-17-07-29-49 The Associated Press, CBS confirmed Couric will spend two days on the road with the Republican vice presidential candidate, as well as presidential hopeful John McCain.Couric's reports will air Sept. 29 and 30 on the CBS Evening News and The Early Show.No word on whether any of the interview will air on 60 Minutes.Will you be watching the next Palin interview with Katie Couric asking the tough questions? Or, would you rather re-watch the SNL skit with Tina Fey? — Erin FoxRelated• Sarah Palin Laughed Along with SNL• SNL Opener; Fey Scores!
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Katie Couric by John Paul Filo/CBS
For the second consecutive week, ratings for the CBS Evening News have reached a record low. TVNewser.com reports that the broadcast averaged 5.3 million total viewers, and just over 1.5 million in the 25-54 demo — an all-time low. The week prior, the broadcast, anchored by Katie Couric, attracted 5.39 million viewers and 1.69 million adults 25-54. They are the lowest numbers recorded for the program since Nielsen began tracking network evening newscast ratings during the 1987-88 season. — J.R. WhalenRelated:• If Couric Exits CBS, Who Could Fill the Anchor Chair?
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Katie Couric by Andrew Eccles/CBS and Tom Brokaw by Brian Ach/WireImage.com
Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw tells the Boston Herald he warned Katie Couric about moving from morning to evening news."I told her when she left that it's a dive off the high board," Brokaw said. "This is harder than it looks, to go from the morning to the evening."He feels CBS shares some of the blame for CBS Evening News' declining ratings since Couric took over the anchor chair. "I think that they made a number of mistakes in terms of how they marketed her and what their approach to the news was."Couric's low ratings have fueled speculation that CBS may replace her after the 2009 presidential inauguration. — J.R. WhalenRelated:• Buzz Builds That Couric Is Eyeing Exit from CBS• The Biz: If Couric Exits CBS, Who Could Fill the Anchor Chair?
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Katie Couric by Theo Wargo/WireImage.com
Katie Couric, who isn't even halfway through her five-year/$15-million-per pact with CBS, may vacate the Evening News anchor chair the instant the ink is dry on the next U.S. president's inauguration papers (assuming there are papers to be signed when one becomes leader of the free world). According to the Wall Street Journal, with Evening News ratings floundering and Eye execs under increasing pressure to cut costs, Couric could be gone by January 2009 — and, as previously reported, perhaps sliding behind Larry King's desk at CNN. (Who could replace Katie at CBS? Read The Biz for the likely candidates.)A CBS News rep responded to this latest buzz by saying, "We are very proud of the CBS Evening News... and we have no plans for any changes regarding Katie or the broadcast." Couric herself issued this statement: "I am working hard and having fun. My colleagues continue to impress me with their commitment to the newscast, and I am very proud of the show we put on every day." What...
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Hillary Clinton courtesy CBS
Jeers to Katie Couric for her puffy interview with Hillary Clinton on 60 Minutes. Some critics suggest (to use one of Couric's favorite phrases) the CBS Evening News anchor lacks gravitas, and she certainly didn't prove them wrong with such featherweight questions as "Do you like Barack Obama?" and "Someone told me your nickname in school was 'Miss Frigidaire' — is that true?" ("Only with some boys" was Clinton's deft response.) And Couric's how-do-you-do-it-all softballs seemed more suited to an early-morning infotainment show than a prime-time newsmagazine. Clinton's secrets to staying healthy? She sanitizes her hands with Purel, drinks lots of water and eats plenty of hot peppers. Come back, Dan Rather — all is forgiven!
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Katie Couric courtesy CBS
Wednesday on CBS Evening News, Katie Couric asks 10 presidential contenders to weigh in on the issue of politicians making for strange bedfellows — namely, with people who aren't their spouse. According to the New York Daily News, when asked about the public's reservations about backing a cheater, Hillary Clinton says, "I can certainly understand [that]. That is their perfect right. But I think that would be a tough standard for most [figures] of American history to be able to meet." (Who might she be alluding to...?)Another qualified perspective came from Rudy Giuliani, who admits, "I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes in my life — and not just in that area. I try to learn from them so I don't repeat them." Citing his Catholic upbringing, he then said, "I mean, we're all sinners. We're all struggling.... We ask for forgiveness."
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Tim DeKay and Ally Walker in Tell Me You Love Me by Doug Hyun/HBO
• The racy Tell Me You Love Me bedded only 910,000 viewers with its Sunday debut, falling 53 percent below HBO's month-prior average in the time slot and coming up way short versus the premieres of, say, John from Cincinnati (3.4 mil), Big Love (4.6 mil) and Rome (3.8 mil). As a result, lead-out Curb Your Enthusiasm drew its lowest season-premiere audience ever, 1.17 mil.• Monday's season-ender for TNT's The Closer delivered 9.2 million viewers, setting a new all-time high for an ad-supported cable series telecast (besting The Closer's Season 3 opener).• Katie Couric's jaunt to Iraq enlisted 5.46 mil, matching Evening News' previous all-time low.• Nick's iCarly accumulated 13 million viewers over its entire premiere weekend.
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Katie Couric by Andrew Eccles/CBS
War, what is it good for? Amping up one's profile among the evening-news-anchor elite, that's what. CBS has announced that Katie Couric will mark her first anniversary as Evening News frontwoman with a 12-day trip to Iraq and Syria, beginning Sept. 4. The answer to "OK, but why now?" is the status report being prepared by General David Petraeus that President Bush will use to determine the next steps in Operation Iraqi Freedom (if that is still the campaign's tagline). With Couric on the road, Early Show's Harry Smith will claim the Evening News helm.
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Katie Couric by John Paul Filo/CBS
Offering Katie Couric some much-needed support in the wake of a New York Magazine profile that got tongues wagging about the Evening News anchor's days being numbered, CBS News president Sean McManus said he plans to see Couric fronting the newscast into 2010. "She has a five-year contract with CBS to anchor the evening news," McManus tells the Associated Press. "All of us, including Katie, expect her to be anchoring the evening news in her fifth year." McManus takes issue with news-biz bloggers who went so far as to solicit reader votes on who should replace Couric in the event she is ousted, calling such speculation-for-sport "absurd" and "insulting." (Whew, glad I stopped short of posting that particular poll!)
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Katie Couric by Andrew Eccles/CBS
In a sitdown with New York Magazine, Katie Couric admits to having days "when I'm like, 'Oh my god, what did I do?'" with regards to the cold reception given her CBS Evening News cast. That said, she takes issue with those who find a certain glee in her woes. "I've gone through a bit of a feeding frenzy and there's blood in the water. This person who's been successful isn't so great, and finally she's being put in her place.... That kind of mentality [is] fairly primal." Other choice sound bites from the in-depth profile:• "[That] I'm not a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown... it's probably disappointing to some people, because in the arc of the story, that's what they want to see."• "I underestimated the feeling that some might have that I was a morning-show personality and not a credible news person. Which I, quite frankly, think is patently unfair."• On the topic of peers who have slammed her "anonymously" in the press (no less than Bob Schieffer and Lesley...
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