CBS tries to lure Couric from NBC’s ‘Today’-report
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – CBS is trying to change the face of network news by luring Katie Couric, co-host of NBC’s top-rated morning show “Today,” to the evening news anchor seat vacated by Dan Rather, the Los Angeles Times said on Friday.
Citing senior editorial staffers at both networks, the Times said newly installed CBS News President Sean McManus had determinedly wooed Couric in recent weeks to take over as permanent anchor of the CBS Evening News and that Couric was seriously considering such a move.
CBS and NBC both declined comment on the story. Media reports began circulating in January that CBS executives had made overtures to Couric to lure her away from NBC to the CBS Evening News desk.
Taking Rather’s spot would make Couric the first woman named as the sole permanent anchor of a major network evening newscast, unless ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas beats her to the punch. Vargas, a “20/20,” host, has filled in on a regular basis for the late Peter Jennings at ABC’s World News Tonight and is regarded as a candidate to permanently replace him.
Connie Chung co-anchored the CBS Evening News with Rather for about 18 months in the 1990s, and Barbara Walters co-hosted ABC’s newscast with Harry Reasoner for two years in the 1970s.
Veteran correspondent Bob Schieffer has served as temporary CBS News anchor since Rather stepped down in March, six months after coming under fire for a botched “60 Minutes II” report on President George W. Bush’s military record.
Last month, McManus named “60 Minutes” veteran Rome Hartman as executive producer of the CBS Evening News, which has long trailed NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight in the ratings.
CBS EAGER TO LURE YOUNGER VIEWERS
Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS and co-president of parent company Viacom Inc., has repeatedly expressed eagerness to revamp the Evening News to lure younger viewers and boost ratings.
Couric, who turns 49 next month, has been co-anchor of “Today” since 1991, including the show’s decade-long reign at No. 1 that has made the program one of the most important assets at NBC, a unit of General Electric Co .
“Today” airs three hours a day, Monday through Friday, for a total of 780 hours of programing a year, more than any other show on NBC, and reportedly earns more than $250 million a year for the network.
NBC News President Steve Capus told the Times that speculation about Couric’s next step was “premature.”
“I don’t think she’s decided what to do,” he was quoted as saying. “We’re still sitting here with many months to go before this is going to be in front of us.”
One network insider told Reuters that Couric was barred from entering formal negotiations with another network until her NBC contract expires in May.
Keeping Couric in place is widely seen as crucial to efforts by “Today” to hold its own against competition from ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which narrowed the ratings gap between the two shows earlier this year. ABC is a unit of the Walt Disney Co .
NBC already is struggling to rebuild its prime-time schedule after losing two popular sitcoms, “Friends” and Frasier,” last year, falling to third place in ratings for its target audience.
Couric last renewed her contract with NBC in December 2001, signing a 4 1/2-year deal that sources said was worth about $60 million, one of the most lucrative in U.S. television.
Categories