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Wednesday, April 5, 2006
NBC’s Couric makes jump to CBS official
Same blog, second verse …
Yesterday we predicted, that by week’s end, “Today” host Katie Couric would announce that she’s heading to CBS.
This morning, on the occasion of her 15th anniversary with NBC’s top-rated morning show, the 49-year-old Couric did exactly that. What had long been planned as a celebration of Couric’s stint on “Today” suddenly turned into The Big Announcement with sad faces all around.
“I wanted to tell all of you out there who have watched the show for the past 15 years that after listening to my heart and my gut — two things that have served me pretty well in the past — I’ve decided I’ll be leaving ‘Today’ at the end of May,” she told viewers.
Couric didn’t come right out and say she’ll be anchoring the “CBS Evening News” and reporting for “60 Minutes,” but that’s the plan. I guess NBC was willing to let her break the departure news on “Today,” but it wasn’t going to let her promote her future on a rival network.
The move has been expected for so long that the announcement was a big yawn, which is a shame since the woman most often described as “perky” is going to make history in September when she becomes the first solo female anchor of an evening network newscast.
Why did Couric decide to make such a drastic change and abandon her comfort zone? As Couric pointed out on “Today” this morning, “Sometimes change is good.” And as she heads toward her milestone 50th birthday, Couric undoubtedly would like to re-establish herself in serious news.
People who only know her grinning face from “Today” may not know that Couric covered real news for ABC and CBS before shifting to the sometimes goofy morning slot. She covered political conventions, government agencies and all manner of breaking news stories. She can do it again — but it will take a while for her to lose her cloying image as a flirting, giggling chatterbox with Hollywood stars.
Couric sure isn’t leaving for the money. Her CBS salary reportedly will be in the same $15 million annual range as her current NBC contract. But she is said (by all those New York tabloid papers) to have turned down a $20 million salary to stay at NBC.
What will happen to “Today” at the end of May, when all the tears and memories are wiped away?
Meredith Vieira of “The View” is the leading contender to partner with Matt Lauer, but Ann Curry and Campbell Brown also have been mentioned.
If Couric’s jump from the top-rated morning show to the third-rated evening news show boosts CBS out of the basement, she’ll be heralded as a hero. If, however, her hard-news anchoring skills come up short and the program declines or (worse) is ridiculed, Couric could face an unhappy end to an otherwise brilliant career. It’s a risky move.
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