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Couric's jump makes business sense

The host of "Today" will bring celebrity to CBS's battle for a larger share of 26-million viewers and nearly half a billion dollars in advertising dollars.

By CHASE SQUIRES
Published April 5, 2006

Katie Couric's bold jump from morning TV icon to the seat once held by Walter Cronkite may be even a bolder jump for CBS.

At stake for the third-ranked network is its share of the 26-million Americans who watch one of the three network evening news shows, and an annual advertising pool estimated at more than $450-million. Then there's the less quantifiable but no less important trust networks must maintain with viewers if they are to remain loyal, particularly at times of crisis.

Trading in 69-year-old Bob Schieffer, who has helmed the CBS Evening News during the past year, for the 49-year-old star of NBC's Today show is likely to bump up CBS's ratings, as Couric's celebrity power draws the curious. Whether fans of Schieffer will stick around for Couric is an open question.

What will happen in the long term is also unknown.

What's clear now is that the evening news audience, even though it has dwindled overall, is worth fighting for. In that war, the Couric hire makes sense, said Columbia University professor Richard Wald, a former president of NBC news and a consultant to ABC.

"Look it as a business proposition, not as a news proposition," Wald said. By hiring Couric, "you get a celebrity, someone people know, and you clearly put a dent in (NBC's) morning program. This isn't rocket science."

With Schieffer, CBS made gains in the past year on second-place ABC -- reeling from last year's death of longtime anchor Peter Jennings, and the recent serious injury of new co-anchor Bob Woodruff in Iraq, along with his anchor partner, Elizabeth Vargas, announcing her pregnancy. First-place NBC also has been losing viewers. But CBS had to do something dramatic to break out of third place, said Quinnipiac University journalism professor Kenn Vinet.

As his network sought to replace retired Dan Rather, CBS Chairman Les Moonves last year suggested revamping the nightly news, perhaps loosening the traditional format to make it look more like a morning show. Couric's hiring may signal that Moonves is getting his way, Vinet said.

When she becomes anchor in September, watch for Couric to work from a revamped set and format, Vinet said. In time, viewers may see 10 minutes of hard news, followed by a more magazine-style approach to lifestyle issues and interviews.

"I'm not sure that there's an audience that's going to watch the evening news in its current form," Vinet said.

Columbia's Project for Excellence in Journalism found the median age for network news viewers is about 60. CBS skews oldest, nearly 61. And where the networks draw 26-million a night now, they boasted 52-million in 1980, Nielsen data shows.

Couric would be most impressive if she could draw new viewers to the nighttime news, rather than just stealing from ABC and NBC. Viewers - and more important, a younger, more spendthrift demographic - may tune in to Couric because they identify with her as a woman of varied interests.

"She's a lifestyle, obviously a rich one," said Vinet, a former TV news executive and consultant who coached Couric at Miami's WTVJ when she was starting out. "A lot of people want to be Katie Couric."

University of Virginia professor Paul Cantor, who writes on pop culture, said networks are missing the point. While generations past grew into the news habit as they got older, that may not happen in the future with consumers who are growing up accustomed to getting their news from many sources, when they want it.

"There's a fundamental decentralization of the media going on," Cantor said. "They're fighting a trend that goes beyond their normal thinking."

That could be one reason NBC, with the most outlets, is leading the pack, Cantor said. In the most recent Nielsen Media Research data, NBC drew 8.9-million viewers a night, ABC 8.1-million, and CBS 7.7-million. NBC also has cable channels MSNBC and CNBC and Web site msnbc.com. ABC, in second, this year created a video news report just for its news Website. Meanwhile, CBS offers only video clips online.

Sam Rosenwasser, general manager at local CBS affiliate WTSP-Ch. 10, recognized the power of the internet last year when the station put its noon broadcast online. He said hiring Couric is probably just the start of changes at CBS.

"It'll be interesting to see what CBS does," he said. "This is their opportunity for a new beginning."

[Last modified April 5, 2006, 19:45:03]