2) $newskin=2; } elseif (isset($skin)) { $newskin=(int)$skin; if ($skin<1) $newskin=2; if ($skin>2) $newskin=2; } else { $newskin=2; } $skin=$newskin; $headervar = "/home/mediamogul/www/www.themediadrop.com/docs/skins/header"; $footervar = "/home/mediamogul/www/www.themediadrop.com/docs/skins/footer"; $extension = ".php"; ?> The Media Drop: Katie Couric? (plus, take the TMD survey)

Advertisements on TMD are not
endorsements of any company,
product or service.
Advertising Policy
Email: themediadrop@gmail.com
AIM/Yahoo!: themediadrop
MSN Messenger: tom@themediadrop.com
ICQ: 512240
First Post
Colophon
Comment Policy
TMD Forums
The Media Drop


« March 2007
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    



Google

Total Entries: 2556
Total Comments: 1170
Search Statistics
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
WordPress
Magazines aren't quite dead yet
NBC holds off hatred by at least 7 minutes
My advertising offer to the electronics retailer industry
Jennifer Love Hewitt has her Hanes on again
Is NBC ditching Brian Williams' producer?
Fun with Viacom and YouTube
CNN journalist robbed in South Africa
An old funny
Reclaiming my blog on Technorati
Advertising & Marketing - 136 post(s)
BloggerCon IV - 5 post(s)
Blogging - 253 post(s)
BlogNashville - 7 post(s)
Books - 15 post(s)
Breaking News - 50 post(s)
Columnists - 4 post(s)
Comics - 1 post(s)
Commentary - 24 post(s)
Content Changes - 2 post(s)
Coverage Issues - 24 post(s)
DVD Reviews - 1 post(s)
Editorialism - 5 post(s)
Election 2004 - 105 post(s)
Ethics - 86 post(s)
Fun With Media - 88 post(s)
FYIs - 23 post(s)
IM Excerpts - 2 post(s)
Interviews - 14 post(s)
Introduction - 3 post(s)
Job Stuff - 4 post(s)
Journalism - 219 post(s)
Journalism Concerns - 89 post(s)
Katrina - 11 post(s)
Life - 13 post(s)
Magazines - 65 post(s)
Mergers & Acquisitions - 41 post(s)
Mobile Media - 4 post(s)
Movie Reviews - 3 post(s)
Movies - 16 post(s)
Music - 93 post(s)
Networking - 17 post(s)
Newspapers - 331 post(s)
Personalities - 95 post(s)
Pictures - 1 post(s)
Podcasting - 3 post(s)
Politics - 6 post(s)
Public Relations - 2 post(s)
Quote of the Day - 15 post(s)
Radio - 246 post(s)
Randomosities - 3 post(s)
Regulatatory Issues - 33 post(s)
Resignations - 1 post(s)
RSS - 4 post(s)
Site Changes - 28 post(s)
Sports Marketing - 4 post(s)
Sports on Television - 61 post(s)
Stylebook - 1 post(s)
Super Bowl XLI - 13 post(s)
Surveys - 4 post(s)
Television - 337 post(s)
The Internet - 174 post(s)
The Media Economy - 175 post(s)
War In Iraq - 31 post(s)
Bloglines
Deepblog
Google News
Kinja | The Media Drop Digest
PubSub
Technorati
Topix
xmatrix
Abused by the News
Bacon's MediaSource
The Book Standard
Broadcasting & Cable
BusinessWire
DIYMedia.net
Editor & Publisher
Folio:
Hollywood Reporter
iwantmedia.com
mediabistro
MediaChannel.org
MediaGuardian
MediaPost
Media Life Mag
MediaWeek
Newspaper Association of America
Power Lunch
Poynteronline
Press Release Newswire 24-7 PRNewswire.com
PRWeek
Publishers Weekly
RatherBiased.com
TelevisionWeek
The Advertising Show
The Daily Planet
The NewsMarket
TV Barn
TVPredictions
TVSpy
Variety
WaPo's Media Notes
Yahoo! Marketing & Advertising Directory
Yahoo! Media Directory
LinkedIn
Upcoming.org


RSS Feed:



Powered by
Movable Type 3.31

Listed on BlogShares


Skinning and Red/Black Design by
Moxie Design Studios


December 28, 2004
Katie Couric? (plus, take the TMD survey)

The Orlando Sentinel's Hal Boedeker set off a good one in his column on Tuesday, calling NBC's "Today" show host Katie Couric "the logical choice" to replace Dan Rather in the anchor chair for CBS Evening News. I can't help but believe that this column is fueled more because of the fact that Couric is A) female and B) because people are fixated by bringing someone in who isn't really in the hard news business, for some reason.

But herein lies the rub - as a late 20-something male, am I totally out of the demos that CBS News is looking for, or will be looking for down the road that it doesn't matter what my opinion is? I just don't see how Couric, whose "Today" show just has to have an overwhelmingly female audience (I'm making an educated guess, here), and is not filled with people looking for hard news for an hour, half-hour, whatever. It's fluffy, morning show amusement. Obviously the news needs to gain ground with female viewers - few would argue that - but I'm not sure if getting others to change the channel at the same time helps at all. If those viewers (watching "Today" wanted hard news, they'd be watching a cabler or something else, anyway. So does Couric's "best in the first half-hour" skill that Boedeker refers to translate to a solid half-hour in the evening?

At the same time, is CBS looking to take its current viewers, (whomever they are), and have them looking at whole new type of program - instead of finding someone who is in the "hard news" business to take the role? Maybe John Roberts and Scott Pelley aren't compelling enough for CBS to bank on right now - I really don't know if they would do a worse job than what is currently happening in the ratings - but I'm beginning to feel like people are just throwing names out just for the sake of doing so. Surely there are a solid list of candidates - women and men - for this job, that don't have to be "prime time" celebrities that aren't viewed as non-newsy by many in the public.

There have been tons of suggestions for this, including RatherBiased.com's Matthew Sheffield suggesting in a recent New York Observer column by Joe Hagan that ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas get a shot at it, for instance.

To attempt to gauge at least a small population of news viewers, TMD is offering an informal survey asking readers who they believe would make the best new anchor at CBS News - you can take the survey once, and it can be found here.

Posted by Tom at December 28, 2004 5:18 PM | TrackBack | IM This

Comments

please remember that Katie Couric has a hard news background. She started as a correspondent for NBC News.

Posted by: joevideo [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 29, 2004 6:18 AM

Absolutely, Joe - as does Diane Sawyer.

That said, it doesn't mean she is the right choice for the job.

Posted by: Tom Biro [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 29, 2004 6:44 AM

I'll never forget when Katie was head cheerleader before we sacked Baghdad.

"Navy SEALs Rock!"

Ugh.

Posted by: UncleHorns [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 30, 2004 5:37 AM

What about Connie Chung? She did a good job, has set in that seat and sure isn't part of Dan's inside group.

Posted by: jdunlap [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 1, 2005 3:55 AM

I watch you every night an enjoy it. If you get a chance please look at www,ifepa,org Thank you very much David Henson

Posted by: David Henson at November 1, 2006 9:36 PM