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Posts Tagged “
Katie Couric
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NBC Chief's Katie Couric Visit
"COULD Katie Couric be returning to NBC? That was the buzz yesterday morning after NBC boss Jeff Zucker was spotted climbing out of his black SUV on a visit to Couric, who left the Today show to anchor CBS Evening News, at her East Side apartment." This is followed by a highly implausible cover story/denial involving Couric running errands for Zucker. [Post]
Ryan Seacrest Maybe Taking Over For 'Close' Friend Larry King
"A source from within CNN says that [American Idol host] Seacrest, who has filled in for his friend Larry King in the past, is involved in 'serious negotiations' to take over Larry King Live around year’s end." Someone is trying to deny Katie Couric her birthright. [The Scoop via Radar]
Katie Couric's Producer Supposedly Leaving
"[CBS News] Spokeswoman Kelly Halyard insists: 'Sean McManus asked [producer] Rick [Kaplan] to consider taking some time off to rest after working two jobs for the past 11 weeks. After his week off, Kaplan will transition back into his full-time role as the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and CBS News’ election coverage.' Counters our source: 'Total bunk.' Our insider suspects this to be PR spin to keep Katie’s situation from looking any worse. If Rick actually does return to the Evening News, 'he won’t be there long. They are just spinning.'" [Jossip]
cbs
Barbara Walters More Hated At Today Than Katie Couric
Barabara Walters had "a bitter parting from Today. She said, 'Unlike Katie, there were no going-away parties for me,' connecting her departure to become the first woman on an evening newscast [at ABC] to the current situation of CBS’s Katie Couric." [Times]
jobs
Katie Couric's Inevitable Comeback
Katie Couric hit rock bottom this month, starting with talk about an early exit from the CBS Evening News, continuing through to a lost debate-hosting opportunity and the worst ratings week in her show's history, and ending with Larry King's contract renewal for a show Couric had coveted at CNN. Now, at last, the news cycle seems to be turning in Couric's favor. Newsday reports Couric may be able to nab King's time slot: More »
bad day
Poor Katie
So. Katie Couric's debate was canceled, and her ratings are the lowest ever, and also now Larry King has signed a contract extension with CNN. Through 2010, when he will be 77. That was supposed to be Katie's post-election job! Oh no!
dissed
Obama Won't Let Sad Couric Have Her Very Own Debate
Katie Couric is the only evening news anchor who has not hosted a Democratic presidential debate in this election cycle, and there have been 21 debates, so that's kind of sad. What's sadder is that it looks like the CBS Evening News anchor might never get to host a debate, ever. First it was the writers strike that got in Couric's way, then Hillary Clinton rejected her first proposed date, April 19, because it was on the first day of Passover. Then Couric came up with a date that worked for Clinton, April 27, but now the Obama campaign says that won't work, probably because it's the Islamic day of elitism and Obama will be burning a flag in a madrassa to celebrate. More »
The Dead and The Dying
Moonves Backs Couric, Nobody Believes Him
Embattled anchor Katie Couric (legs!) of the long-withering CBS Evening News got a vote of confidence from network boss Les Moonves yesterday, but it was probably just a bunch of meaningless hoo-ha. Moonves said at a staff meeting that Couric "is my anchor today, tomorrow and in the future." Aw, sweet. "But the public display does not change the reality that Couric is likely to relinquish the anchor chair after the election, according to two top network executives who declined to be named discussing a private meeting." More »
les moonves
Katie Couric Just One Element Of How CBS Sucks
Anonymous CBS News employees complained to the Times about how Katie Couric was getting too much attention and the rest of the company was going ignored. The paper went ahead and looked at the rest of CBS and, what do you know, it turns out Evening News host Couric "may be the least of" CBS's worries. Its prime time ratings are down 20 percent, viewers are the oldest among major networks, the news and sports websites are behind rivals, the Early Show just lost its executive producer and the news division is laying off people and cutting back budgets. Meanwhile, CBS chief Les Moonves (pictured) saw his salary rise to $37 million last year, more than twice what Couric is believed to make. Anyone else want to complain to the Times about how they are not getting enough attention? [Times]
Network News is Dead
With Couric Gone, Moonves Can Finally Kill that Loser Show Already
Now that Katie Couric is leaving the unwatched CBS Evening News before her contract expires, CBS CEO Les Moonves has little reason to keep pumping money into its putrefying corpse. Moonves "isn't a news guy, he's a showbiz guy," notes Huffington Post power-blogger Rachel Sklar. And Couric is hardly the first person to fail at anchoring the crappy program. More »
tv
Katie Couric, CBS, the 'Wall Street Journal' and the New York 'Times' in Journalism Love Quadrangle
The Wall Street Journal broke a terribly large piece of media news this week—CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is leaving the network after the elections, before her contract is up. That they had this story and not, say, the Times—who generally handle the TV media beat pretty well and on their own, thank you—is a nice coup for Murdoch's newest acquisition. It took a little while for the Times to catch up, but they came out last night with their own story on the meeting that ended Couric's career. (Amusingly, they credit "press reports in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and elsewhere on Thursday" for breaking the Journal's exclusive scoop. Petty!) While some speculate as to what Katie will do next, or when she'll leave, Henry Blodget wonders who killed her. We're inclined to believe she killed herself. More »
katie couric
Couric's Exit Was "Idle Talk" Says Times Source
All the news about Katie Couric maybe leaving her anchor job at the CBS Evening News grew out of "idle talk and musings" about her departure, one CBS source told the Times. Where did this supposed "idle talk" take place? In CBS Chairman Les Moonves' office, with Moonves, Couric, her agent and the president of CBS News all present. Funny, if I had a $15 million-per-year job I wanted to keep, I don't think I'd openly talk about leaving three years early in front of my boss and my boss' boss. Regardless, it now looks like Couric will, in fact, exit her contract before its 2011 expiration. More »
katie couric
Couric Could Get CBS Talk Show
Katie Couric is in talks to leave the CBS Evening News, the Washington Post reported, lending credence to an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal that the anchor is likely to leave before her contract expires in 2011. Couric would be offered "either a syndicated talk show or a full-time role on 60 Minutes" if she is eased out as anchor, the Post's anonymous sources said. Howard Kurtz, who wrote the Post's Couric story, is playing a bit of catchup: he published an interview with Couric Monday that missed the exit talks, allowing the Journal to scoop him two days later. [Washington Post]
media
The Rise And Fall Of Katie Couric
Katie Couric is reportedly close to being pushed off the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News after less than two years. Resented by coworkers and aging viewers, regretted by the executives paying her exorbitant salary and ignored by the younger people she was hired to attract, Couric must sometimes miss the days when she was a perky, fearless anchor key to making Today the most profitable program in television history. Back then, the New Yorker called the anchor America's "imaginary friend" while others admired her interviews as surprisingly tough (she once asked Pat Buchanan, "Are you trying to drive the President crazy, or are you just on a big ego trip?") How did America come to hate "America's Sweetheart?" More »
breaking
Katie Couric Leaving: Report
After barely 18 months on the job, Katie Couric is reported to be on the verge of leaving CBS. The Evening News anchor is costing her network $15 million per year, and she is likely to exit CBS well before her contract expires in 2011, possibly early next year, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. A parting of ways will mark the embarrassing end to CBS' big bet that viewers wanted to move beyond staid news anchors to sunnier fare, like Couric's fireside interviews and lighthearted banter. More »
Katie Couric, Child Plagiarist
"My first poem was published in The St. James Grammar School gazette. It was a poem about snow. I've never told anyone that I plagiarized that poem. It was really written by Penny Eastman. After 45 years of keeping that secret, I am relieved to finally get it off my chest." [Daily News]
