Couric Says She's Leaving 'Today' for CBS

[shawmut]

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer 2 minutes ago

NEW YORK - On her 15th anniversary on "Today," Katie Couric told viewers Wednesday she's leaving to join CBS and become the first woman to solely anchor a network evening newscast.

"I wanted to tell all of you out there ... that after listening to my heart and my gut ... I've decided I'll be leaving 'Today' at the end of May," she said. "I really feel as if we've become friends through the years."

The 49-year-old Couric, the longest-serving anchor in "Today" show history, is expected to replace Bob Schieffer on the third-rated CBS broadcast in September.

Following a months-long guessing game that has consumed the TV industry, Couric chose the 15th anniversary of her first day as "Today" co-host in 1991 to say that it's time for a change.

"It's been such an honor and a privilege to occupy this seat for as long as I have," she said. "Sometimes I think change is a good thing," Couric said. "Although it may be terrifying to get out of your comfort zone, it's also very exciting to start a new chapter in your life."



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060405/ap_on_en_tv/tv_couric

[fasttense]

1. It doesn't matter where she goes. I wont watch her anyway. n/t

[acmejack]

2. A sad requiem for CBS News

A once fine institution goes down the pipes in the ratings chase. Sorry, Ed, Walter, Dan...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. From Edward R. Murrow to... Katie Couric?

:puke:

[spanone]

28. Speaks volumes for de-evolution. Sad day for journalism.

[goclark]

46. She is an insult to his memory

She has officially sold her soul to the devil with this move.

[AndyA]

4. Great choice, CBS. Look for your dismal ratings to plummet even more.

Couric is such a horrid person. The few people I know who watch CBS news have said they will go elsewhere if Couric is hired. So, they've already started losing viewers. Do they think people who watch the Today Show are going to flip over to CBS now? They've overestimated her ability to attract viewers, if that's what they're thinking.

Oh well, it will be a brief stay. Once the ratings drop further into the toilet, she will be replaced quickly.

Big mistake, CBS. Huge.

[MarianJack]

5. An Appropriate Consequence...

...of deciding to let the white house vet your news because Dan Rather told the truth!

Here in Augusta, Maine, we get BBc world news on Adelphia channel 109 and on NPR at 5:00 AM weekdays. This is our source of REAL news.

[Jack from Charlotte]

57. Yea but was Murrow......... perky? *

*

[HughBeaumont]

6. The Bushbot Pixie spreads the anti-Dem message.

Just one more channel in the Corpmedia sewer. No objectivity, either kowtow to Ill Douchey and his quagmire or go starve at Utne Reader.

"Navy Seals ROCK!"

I just gotta ask Miss Colonoscopy several things - what the HELL is behind your support for a guy who hasn't done a DAMNED thing right since he got into office? How's that working out for you? How does it feel knowing that you're defending an administration that murders Iraqi women, children and babies? How does it feel knowing you're trumpeting failure? How does it feel knowing that more than half of the country laughs at your views?

Oh wait, you're rich, so you don't give a fuck. I see. Have fun bathing in cash. At least I have a soul.

[MarianJack]

7. I Predict...

...a mild ratings bump due to a curiousity factor, than a continued downward spiral.

The scary thing is that the corporations that own the media outlets don't care that millions of Americans are abandoning the MSM is droves. The important thing to them is to get the right wing, pro-corporate/free market message out there with NO counter.

FUCK'EM! WE have to become the media.

[Chimichurri]

8. I'll have to wait til 8pm to get the news from Keith. Shieffer

was doing a decent job - better then Vargas on ABC because he at least asked follow up questions.

I can't imagine Couric doing justice to the news in any responsible way.
What a disappointment.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. Lou Dobbs Here I Come, I guess!

I'll bet Dan Rather tunes in to DU to get his news too!

[dusty64]

10. cbs was the only

tv news I would tolerate, NO more. I will not watch a lightweight airhead read the news, what a disgrace bub bye cbs............

[LostinVA]

13. And, an increasingly obvious RW lightweight, at that

At least a decent liberal will eb replacing her.

[erpowers]

39. Not RW

I think Couric is not a RWer. I think after the Coulter book NBC just abandoned her and tried to make itself look more closer to the right. I think Couric has always been a little liberal and has suffered for that, especially with the Coulter book. Ii might be possible that Couric did lose some of her edge after the Coulter book when NBC decided not to try to fight for Couric. It seems to me that NBC tried to give Couric more lighter stories and let Lauer do more of the heavy stories. I think this may have been an attempt to run from the claims of left wing bias.

[underpants]

11. I'll give it ashot the other networks are useless

but then I have come to the realization that there really is no need for network news anymore.

Will they have an open desk she we can see the gams?

[Hubert Flottz]

16. I don't even think her beaver will keep the ratings up...

It's the rantings that will kill the ratings! I'll bet she's a DoD plant, anyway!

[tabasco]

12. CBS = credibility been shot.

Another sign of the dumbing-down of American society.

[flordehinojos]

14. listening to her heart and her gut? how bout listening to a 5mill.incrase

on her salary. wasn't she being paid 10. mill a year to work for the TODAY show? bye.bye. matt lauer. you're toast as soon as kc leaves the show.

[Benhurst]

27. Yes, with Katie on the way out, things look bad for the

balding pretty boy.

[tsuki]

29. I thought it was 14 million. nt

[flordehinojos]

33. you might be right--still she is getting a l mill. increase and that is no

small penny.

:patriot:

[erpowers]

41. 15 mil 5 mil increase

She was making $15 million a year and will get a $5 million a year raise. She will make $20 million a year at CBS.

[flordehinojos]

48. o, wow! so, was she listening to her heart and gut, or to her added

loose change? i am inclined to vote for the fact that she may have been listening to her added pocket change!

}(

[LaurenG]

15. Well Couric, good riddance

I always thought you may be in need of a good... Maybe CBS will do to you as they did to Dan Rather.

[wicket]

17. From Dan Rather to Katie Couric???

Someone hold my hair while I :puke:

[laststeamtrain]

18. Damn! I was still hoping Kathy Lee Gifford would come back to anchor CBS

[Endangered Specie]

19. Ive watched CBS news for a long time now...

that trend will die the day she steps in.

[godai]

20. Ditto...I'll NEVER watch CBS Evening News (eom)

[Beausoir]

45. I agree. My father was a die-hard CBS man and now, my family is too.

No longer. I won't reward their condescension by padding their ratings.

But I don't know who to watch now.

[Bridget Burke]

21. Too bad for CBS...

That was the only network evening news I could bear to watch.

[tanyev]

22. I just listened to my gut, too, Katie.

:puke:

[qanda]

24. My keyboard will never be the same

:spray:

[papau]

23. I think she will do a fine job - indeed the pay cut she took in accepting

the job over a renewed Today show contract shows her desire to get out from under GE censorship.

The ratings will be interesting to watch. Is the American viewer ready for a female ANCHOR - no male partner ????

[acmavm]

25. Seriously, who gives a damn. No matter where she is she'll

still be the same fraud trying to pretend she's a legitimate journalist.

[Call me Deacon Blues]

26. In other news, Paris Hilton may play Mother Teresa

I'm not making this up: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/14/hilton_movie/

The fabric of reality is breaking down! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

(Oh, and that whirring sound you hear is Edward R. Murrow spinning in his grave.)

[onehandle]

30. Cronkite will be dead within six months on this news.

How long is Couric's contract? I suppose they have Jessica Simpson lined up next.

[suegeo]

31. Will she still dress up as Snow White on Halloween?

Will she tell those who watch her about the hottest selling gifts for Christmas and Mother's Day?

I will never know because I can't bear to watch her.

New lows in journalism...

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rodeodance]

34. well, i will not be catching CBS evening news

[2Design]

35. dan rather to bimbo - no real news for sure - oh well - that was

the last news station I still watched sometimes - forget it if they want air and lies for news

[Dulcinea]

36. Too bad. I liked Bob Schieffer.

Katie Couric leaves me cold.

[zann725]

37. Oh no! It was easier avoiding Katie-Coo in early morn...but PrimeTime?

I feel like a Diabetic every time I attempt watching her false "sweetness"...not to mention her views, and comments.

Frankly, I prefer REAL anchors. I'd rather have Rather.

[ramapo]

38. Ugh

Another nail in the long-buried coffin of TV "news".

[BlueStater]

40. Guess I'll never watch CBS News again

I haven't been able to stand her ever since she recycled those ridiculous right-wing talking points against Howard Dean. Just another GOP mouthpiece. Ugh.

[badgervan]

49. Process of Elimination

Of the Big Three network news departments, NBC has been moving right for at least a year now, and ABC is too sympathetic to the bush/corporate viewpoint these days. That leaves CBS, which I see as the best of a bad group of choices. I'll give Katie a shot. Hell, she is just reading what others have written and put on the teleprompter. Nice paycheck for a pretty easy job.

[kath]

52. yep - $20 million a year to read a teleprompter - damn cush job!!

"Navy SEALs rock!"


Excuse me while I :puke: :puke: :puke:

There is no such thing as TV journalism in this country anymore.
It's all entertainment. As Neil Postman put it, we're "Amusing Ourselves to Death"

[ABaker]

42. whoop de doo

:boring:

[tonekat]

43. Maybe now I can actually bear to watch Today again...

I stopped watching the day the current war coverage began....the "Mattie and Katie" rah-rah nonsense was making me ill.

[Wetzelbill]

44. Schieffer's wayyy cuter! WTF?

:)

[llmart]

47. WHO CARES!

eom

[high density]

50. Maybe CBS News should set up an email notify list

to let us know when she's fired and when we can start watching again.

This is a terrible waste of money and it won't help out the "news" over at CBS at all.

[NervousRex]

51. Damn...

I would rather see her announce: "I am casting off this mortal coil"

[w4rma]

53. I hope they aren't hiring her to toss softballs like she does on the Today

Show. My gut says that's exactly why they are hiring her, though. And I think that if she tries to do real news, they'll probably fire her.

[doc03]

54. Why all the hostility? The Freepers are going

nuts too calling her a liberal. Could the trouble be that she's a woman? I'll give her a chance, she sure as hell can't be any worse Brit (horse face) Hume or Wolf (f---ing) Blitzer.

[Kablooie]

55. Freepers call her liberal and liberals call her conservative.

Actually sounds like a decent image for a news reporter.
If a reporter really does his/her job anyone interviewed will feel challenged.

We'll see.

[doc03]

56. That's the way I feel, a News Person

shouldn't be a lap dog for either party. Their job is to report the news, if they interview a Democrat and all they get is BS they should be tough on them the same as a Republican. Faux says they are fair and balanced, the news medias job is not to be fair and balanced it's to report the news. The Republicans claim the news media doesn't report the good news out of Iraq, whenever 50 people get blown up with an IED it's their job to report that and not balance it out with a story about a new school being built.

[Dr Fate]

58. the difference is freepers are lying and cant provide examples....

...of her supposed Liberal bias.