Thursday, October 26, 2006

Katie Couric... Failure or Woman Failure?

And there is a Difference...

Here's a headline, still bloody from having been ripped and torn, without anaesthetic from the Drudge Report:

" S.O.S. COURIC: CBS 'EVENING NEWS' PLUNGES TO 7TH PLACE IN TIMESLOT IN LOS ANGELES ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT; BEHIND 'FRIENDS' RERUN, 'KING OF QUEENS', 'MILLIONAIRE'... 1.1 RATING/2 SHARE LOWEST SINCE TAKING CHAIR..."

Because Ms. Couric and I do not share political and lifestyle choices I have never been a fan. I did not like watching or hearing her back in the days when she was a Today Show fixture. The causes she backed and her obvious political bent were not what I was a fan of. And yet she prospered. Or so it seemed.

And now, if the reports are true, CBS Evening News is not prospering. The Today Show, despite my distaste for Katie, prospered. I hadn't watched a network evening news in decades, so my vote was crucial; in essence, I wasn't even voting.

So why is Katie losing viewers? Does the fact that she is a woman make a difference? Is it Katie, the person, or Katie the woman? And why isn't Oprah helping her?

4 comments:

Sonya said...

It's because they dumbed down the broadcast and didn't let the news be the first priority. She should have just read the news like Bob Schiefer and Dan Rather did. I don't need gimmicks.

Mary Lois said...

Bert, I left a long, cogent comment here this AM and it isn't there...I think all this encryption is making things hard for us...but it's up to you, it's your blog. What I said was that, I agree with the tree that with her complicated backdrop, black granite countertops, glitzy sets and lighting they aren't giving Couric a chance. It has nothing to do with her politics, her being a woman, or probably nothing to do with her irritatingly perky personality, but just a misjudgment that she's somehow another Anderson Cooper. I don't watch the 6 o'clock "news" anyway, since it's nothing but hype and filtered handout stories anyway. If anything really happens, the world will be informed by bulletins on the spot.

What passes for her personality escapes me. Is it charming to giggle all the time? Who's the next anchor going to be? Rachel Ray?

Nessa said...

I have never cared for her. She's too perky, to forced, too fake. So, as you can see, I have no opinion.

Bert Bananas said...

Even-Handed Hope, I, too, made a comment, thought that the verification do-whatchie had done it's job and now it's gone. I don't remember a thing about the comment I made, except that I addressed to Treemonisha. So it was probably all goo & treacle, as she has that effect on me.

So far, three of us have never watched her and one of us stopped watching her. CBS must be so proud.