# Katie Couric is going \*down\*! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920 "2006-10-10T12:56:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/1 "2006-10-10T12:56:17Z")
Well, her [ratings](http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=237139&affid=100055&) are, anyway. Imagine my astonishment. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/2 "2006-10-10T13:14:09Z")
If I might be so bold as to hijack this thread with a question that’s been bugging me for a while… What’s going on with Katie’s face? It looks different to me. Different and strange and mutated. Her eyes look smaller and farther apart or something. It freaks me out. Maybe that’s why her ratings have dropped. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/3 "2006-10-10T13:20:02Z")
I predict she’ll end up on The View…the mystical burial ground for one-time, top-of-the-game female hosts. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/4 "2006-10-10T16:03:04Z")
Not a regular news viewer, but watched once a couple of weeks ago out of curiosity. Wife and I both thought her “thanking” everyone from reporters to viewers seemed excessive and odd. Wonder how much of her salary is guaranteed? ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/5 "2006-10-10T16:26:08Z")
I think most of the drop in her ratings just comes from the fact that her early ratings were inflated by the curious. Will they level out, or just keep dropping? I don’t know, though I hope they level out. (Not that I watch her, or any other evening news regularly). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/6 "2007-04-23T17:46:16Z")
[She may not have much longer](http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/20070422_Gail_Shister___CBS_evening_blues.html). Certainly, her numbers or image haven’t improved or evolved the way CBS is hoping. > [@](#): > > “It’s a disaster. Everybody knows it’s not working. CBS may not cut her loose, but I guarantee you, somebody’s thinking about it. We’re all hunkered down, waiting for the other shoe to drop.” > > Seven correspondents, producers and executives at CBS and other networks interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of the Couric situation. > > Couric and CBS were a bad fit from the start. > > “From the moment she walked in here, she held herself above everybody else,” says a CBS staffer. “We had to live up to her standards. . . . CBS has never dealt in this realm of celebrity before.” > > Media experts predict Couric’s ratings won’t improve anytime soon, given that news viewers tend to be older and averse to change. > > Couric, 50, draws fewer viewers than did avuncular “interim” anchor Bob Schieffer, 20 years her senior. Much of the feature-oriented format she debuted with is gone, as is her first executive producer, Rome Hartman. > > “The broadcast is an abject failure, by any measure,” says Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs at the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University. > > “They gambled that viewers wanted a softer, less-dramatic presentation of the news, and they lost. It’s not fair to blame Couric for everything, but she’s certainly the centerpiece and deserves a fair share.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/7 "2007-04-23T18:03:25Z")
This isn’t one of those things you’re proud to admit, but when I heard/read that Cho had sent the package to NBC and Brian Williams my first thought was _… in other news, Katie Couric takes yet another blow to her Q-rating and ponders whether even to have a newscast tonight._ ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/8 "2007-04-23T19:07:38Z")
It doesn’t matter to me who reads the news (since Cronkite retired, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/9 "2007-04-23T19:13:47Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] If I might be so bold as to hijack this thread with a question that’s been bugging me for a while… What’s going on with Katie’s face? It looks different to me. Different and strange and mutated. Her eyes look smaller and farther apart or something. It freaks me out. Maybe that’s why her ratings have dropped. [/QUOTE] The National Enquirer says she’s had a nose job and she doesn’t like it. The doctor says give it 6 months for the swelling to subside before judging it. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/10 "2007-04-23T19:15:31Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] This isn’t one of those things you’re proud to admit, but when I heard/read that Cho had sent the package to NBC and Brian Williams my first thought was _… in other news, Katie Couric takes yet another blow to her Q-rating and ponders whether even to have a newscast tonight._ [/QUOTE] I thought the same- its like mental cases don’t even like her 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/11 "2007-04-23T19:19:24Z")
She’s still the only news anchor who has ever sung ‘Elmo’s Song’ on national television… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/12 "2007-04-23T19:24:23Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] She’s still the only news anchor who has ever sung ‘Elmo’s Song’ on national television… 😛 [/QUOTE] \ :dubious: Ummmm - probably better that way… ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/13 "2007-04-23T19:28:50Z")
I was shocked when CBS announced the deal. Personally I think the networks have lost their minds to pay such substantial sums to anchors. With the advent of instant and constant news coverage channels, such as CNN, the evening news format has become more and more archaic. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/14 "2007-04-23T19:28:53Z")
> [@](#): > > What’s going on with Katie’s face? It looks different to me. Different and strange and mutated. Her eyes look smaller and farther apart or something. It freaks me out. She wasn’t able to get back to the morphing machine for her rejuve, and is starting to revert to her original alien form. Same thing that happened with Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/15 "2007-04-23T19:34:27Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] I predict she’ll end up on The View…the mystical burial ground for one-time, top-of-the-game female hosts. [/QUOTE] And Meridith Viera? ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/16 "2007-04-23T20:05:18Z")
Wow! Such hate, based mostly in schadenfreude I think. I must be the only person that thinks she is doing just fine as the anchor for CBS evening news. I actually look forward to her newscasts as a refreshing departure from the deadly-serious weathered old men droning out the top stories. I do not watch the View, Today, Oprah, or any of the other shows that feature these hyper-active women, so maybe I have not been saturated by this phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/17 "2007-04-23T20:11:35Z")
[Katie Couric Leaving TODAY Show](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=366191) (4-16-06) > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > After a short increase in ratings due to curiosity, this will be a long-term loser for CBS as everybody is saying. The entire world appears to understand this except for Les Moonves. Who, BTW, kept insisting that he was going to “blow up” the evening news format for something different. Ha. > > Why Katie? Can anyone explain this? I couldn’t spin this as a good thing if I were being paid to do so. For pity’s sake, if I were able to predict this with this accuracy, how could anyone at CBS not see it? And the bigger irony is that her newscast has actually improved - by throwing out all the fancy nonsense that they tried and going back to a standard newscast look. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/18 "2007-04-23T20:14:57Z")
Not to hijack as well… But why does anyone give a shit? She’s some talking head on the news. She replaced a different talking head on the news. But you’ve got everyone talking about her ratings. Matt Drudge needs to mop off his screen once a week after he gets too excited while typing “Couric biggest failure ever - again!”. Why does this matter? Why do people care? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/19 "2007-04-23T20:37:18Z")
I, for one, couldn’t care less. I haven’t watched news on TV since… uh… the internets. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920/20 "2007-04-23T20:43:49Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Not to hijack as well… But why does anyone give a shit? She’s some talking head on the news. She replaced a different talking head on the news. [/QUOTE] She replaced [Bob Schieffer](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/20/ftn/main530179.shtml), a real journalist. The tendency to substitute beauty pageant babes for actual newsmen and -women is a source of grief for many people who remember television news from an earlier era. While Couric isn’t the airheaded bimbo that some imply, she isn’t Walter Cronkite either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katie-couric-is-going-down/375920.md?page=2)