Marc,

I hope this is the right folder for this. Anyhow, I noticed in your newsletter today that Katie Couric's ratings are continuing to tumble.

CBS Evening News Continues to Slide:
Based on ratings for the week of May 21, CBS' third-place Evening News with Katie Couric continues to slide, with year-to-year losses of as much as 17 percent among target adults 25-54. Take a look at the three-network results (with percent change over the comparable year-ago period in parentheses):

ABC: World News Tonight, CBS: Evening News, NBC: Nightly News

Households
ABC: 5.5 rating/12 share (+ 4), NBC: 5.2/11 (- 7), CBS: 4.2/ 9 (-14)

Total Viewers:
ABC: 7.78 million (+ 4), NBC: 7.19 (- 8), CBS: 5.96 (-15)

Adults 25-54:
ABC: 2.0/ 9 (- 5), NBC: 1.8/ 8 (-10), CBS: 1.5/ 7 (-17)

Source: Nielsen Media Research data

How long do you think Les Moonves will allow this to go on? Who do you think he'd replace her with? Lara Logan, maybe?

Thanks.

I believe Dan Rather went throught the same thing after replacing Cronkite. How long was it before his numbers began to build... if ever?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TV-aholic,

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Originally posted by TV-aholic:
I believe Dan Rather went throught the same thing after replacing Cronkite. How long was it before his numbers began to build... if ever?

I don't recall exactly. I remember that "Uncle Walter" was no. 1 when he "retired," and Dan stayed no. 1 for a while.

Anyway, a 17% decline in the 25-54 group--the very audience Katie was brought in to attract--is obviously not what CBS had in mind.

quote:

I don't recall exactly. I remember that "Uncle Walter" was no. 1 when he "retired," and Dan stayed no. 1 for a while.

CBS was no. 3 when Dan Rather "retired" and Katie is staying no. 3

At this rate, Shep Smith from Fox News could host a half hour on Fox affiliates and probably be competitive.

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Originally posted by Jay:

quote:

I don't recall exactly. I remember that "Uncle Walter" was no. 1 when he "retired," and Dan stayed no. 1 for a while.

CBS was no. 3 when Dan Rather "retired" and Katie is staying no. 3