Oh dear, I’d hoped never to blog again on Katie Couric (see yesterday). But this from U.S.A. Today is irresistible:
“Katie Couric kicked off this week in territory unfamiliar to her but familiar to the CBS Evening News: Her broadcast finished in third place Monday.
“Last week, in the first few days after the former Today star’s much-hyped debut as anchor, Evening News dominated both NBC Nightly News and ABC World News in the ratings.
“But on Monday – a big news day because of the fifth anniversary of 9/11 – viewers returned NBC Nightly News to its regular first-place berth. Nightly News drew 8.3 million viewers, followed by World News with 7.9 million and CBS with 7.5 million. (By comparison, when she premiered Sept. 5, Couric drew 13.6 million viewers.)
National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez comments:
“For all the talk about her glass-ceiling breaking, women-milestone nonsense, the dynamic I watched this last week was lots of people watching the fabricated event last week for one night. MAYBE for a half-hour, maybe not. After the novelty wore off (quickly) most got back to doing more serious things at 6:30 EST – which probably means something way more important than watch any nightly news show, but could very well mean watching one of the guys -Brian or Charlie or, my guy, Brit – who didn’t have, say, Suri Cruise pictures his first night on. So Ms. (or whoever), save your Groundbreaker of the Year Award….”