The Katie Couric Conundrum: What Should CBS Do?
Katie Couric's tenure as the anchor of CBS' 'Evening News' has been one of just as many highs as lows. Through it all, she's weathered the storm -- both critical and public -- and persevered despite generally ranking last among the Big Three network evening broadcasts for almost all of her time at CBS since 2006. And, as everyone saw with Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, the business side of television can be a demanding and cruel landscape, and with Couric's (very meaty) contract up next year, many are pondering what will transpire with CBS' Couric conundrum.
The state of the economy is affecting everyone, and new reports claim that Couric's whopping $15 million a year salary might have to be trimmed a bit if CBS keeps her on board. For comparison, NBC's Brian Williams -- who almost permanently holds the top spot among the nightly network news broadcasts -- makes $10 million a year and pulls in on average more than 3 million more viewers (averaging around 10 million viewers compared to Couric's 6.5-7 million) than Couric.

This week, the New York Post
reported that there was a "populist backlash against Couric's cash" brewing, but CBS News & Sports President Sean McManus quickly stepped out to extinguish the rumor-mill flames.
"Nobody in the business works harder than Katie and I can tell you unequivocally that there have been and are no plans and not even a single discussion about making a change or renegotiating," McManus told the Huffington Post. Still, McManus
told TVNewser that "when Katie's contract is up there will be a spirited competition for her services, based on the work that she's done in the last few years."
Roger Friedman, who writes the
Showbiz411 column for The Hollywood Reporter, tells PopEater that CBS is going to do everything they can to hold onto Couric, even in lieu of her third-place performance for the network.
"They've already invested a lot in creating and promoting her as anchor of the Evening News. They're not going to abandon that next year," Friedman told us.
In the first days of Couric's CBS debut, ratings skyrocketed for the 'Evening News' broadcast due to public interest as to how Katie would handle the job -- much like how Conan O'Brien drew his biggest numbers in his final days on the 'Tonight Show,' with everyone wanting to see what would happen. Sadly for Katie, once the initial interest faded away, so did her viewers.
During the 2008 presidential election, though, Couric gained a heap of redemption -- and credibility among her skeptics -- when she sat down for a now-infamous interview with vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Couric asked the Alaskan governor questions that Palin later dubbed "gotcha journalism" -- namely what kinds of magazines she reads and how Alaska being close to Russia relates to foreign policy. The Couric-Palin showdown put Katie back in the public eye, but much like her debut, the attention eventually faded away.
Couric's past in the word of less-serious television -- namely the 'Today' show -- has many wondering whether the fact that her contract expires in the same year that Oprah Winfrey is ditching network TV to start her own cable empire could result in Katie jumping ship to go back to fluffier programming.
"Some viewers that were accustomed to her more perky side had a difficult time accepting her covering more serious news," says Michelle Lee, Executive Editor of
In Touch Weekly.
So what should CBS do? It really depends who you ask, as both of our experts seem to have different ideas as to what's best for both involved.
"CBS News is a dinosaur fighting for survival. Katie is the network's last best hope," Friedman tells PopEater. "She's a news person. She was raised on news, and wants to be taken seriously. Closet make overs and DNA tests don't seem like her milieu. People want a new Oprah. But if there's one out there, we haven't seen them yet."
Still, In Touch Weekly's Lee disagrees, and thinks that this could be the perfect opportunity for Couric to make her move back to the peak of the television food chain.
"Katie has the interviewing skills and personality to headline a daytime talk show like Oprah, so this could be the strategic move that brings her back on top."
No matter what happens -- whether Katie stays or goes -- let's just hope things work out a bit tidier than they did with Jay and Conan.
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Katie Couric Snapshots
A bundled-up Katie Couric trudges through a frigid winter day in New York City in this photo. Click for More Pics of Katie Out and About >>>
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Susan Sarandon arrives for the 15th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards Official After Party at Katsuya on January 15, 2010 in West Hollywood, California. 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards Official After Party - Arrivals Katsuya Hollywood, CA United States January 15, 2010 Photo by Craig Barritt/WireImage.com To license this image (59294939), contact WireImage.com
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Katie should have stayed at NBC on the Today show. Her liberal take on life was taylor made for that show. She will never be the same now that she has been in a job way over her head.
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That is so true Duke, she is in over her head at CBS. They should have given her one year, then canned her. She was weak on the Today Show, but it's more of a gathering place for liberal malcontents than a news program, so she seemed to work within the constructs. I will never forgive the b*tch for the way she went after the Admiral during that election interview. The show has, however, improved with her absence.
this just shows she can't handle real news. yes, she should have stayed at NBC [which doesn't do REAL news, anyway]. and about this Oprah network thing, doesn't she already own NBC anyway, or do they just do what ever she wants because she holds the mortgage on the Whitehouse.
Katie never should have left NBC. The Today show hasn't been the same. I get bored with it after the first half hour unless it is a busy news day. The powers that be at NBC must be blind and stupid....Bring Katie back now.
Yeah Duke, you don't know the difference between "taylor" and "tailor", but Katie's in it over her head. Oh, the irony is simply delicious.
something wrong with being a liberal?
a retired soldier
Yes, she should have stayed on the Today show. I stopped watching after she left. It was/is so boring, with Matt preening all over the place.
She was kind of cute and perky in her early days, sort of like a Kelly Ripa. Then she just tried to be something that she is not. A serious news anchor. Yuck! now she is just a played-out, liberal media sell-out!
she should just go the hell away.
anyone can read the news.
even the dumazz president can read a teleprompter.
Katie Couric is a good journalist, a female in an ocean of male sharks and has done well, despite the negativity.
Yes, she has a perky, upbeat personality but NBC Today was NOT "tailor-made" for her. She can and will do other things.
I agree with she should have stayed on NBC daytime. I really miss her. I don't think the evening news was over her head though.
Where's the 'Fire Her' button? Get rid of her - do us all a favor.
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Fire her liberal butt, no one likes her after what she did to Sarah Palin anyway.....no one will care.
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Sarah Palin can take care of herself-- Katie Couric di a better job than other interviewers who treated Ms. Palin as a numbskull. I for noe liked the interview and would hope that Ms. Couric does more like that.
The only good thing Couric did was expose Palin for the light weight that she is.
Sarah palin did it to herself--Katie just asked the questions! Being uninformed,inaccurate and unready for political office makes for a revealing interview.
Asking the low-i.q. ditz Sarah Palin what magazines and newspapers she reads was a trick question? The fact that she only reads tabloids like the National Starr proved she wasn't in the elague to lead the country. By the way does Sarah Palin Palin find the word "retard" offensive because people call her that? Why don't you low-i.q. Christian cretins go to another continent on a missionary action so we will never hear from you again. And please take Sarah and the retard Trig with you.
Agreed who cares. cant believe we have photos of couric
to look at.Do we equate her w/Paris. DA. News reporter or
she is the news.Disgusted.m
I agree what she did to SArah Palin, Fire her Liberal butt,
And exactly what did Katie "do" to Palin? She asked her some medium-tough questions, person to person. The questions related to demanding issues of the day which any responsible vice president would need to be able answer from a broad, intelligent, open minded, and cohesive world view. It was a relief to hear someone such as Couric insist on real answers to real issues and not just the obviously stock answers spoon fed to Sarah by GOP Central. Palin hemmed and hawed, and fell back on the usual politician's cliches. And even more revealing were the non-verbal dynamics. Whereas Katie was alive and engaged, but relaxed, Palin's voice was unattractively edgy the whole time and, as the interview progressed, kept getting tighter, more desperate. She demonstrated once and for all that she had no more insight than the average gum-chewing Walmart cashier. Sorry, but Beauty Queen Sarah simply doesn't have the right stuff for the second highest office in America, therefore the world.