Katie Couric on her way out from CBS

by Staff, Brand Republic 11-Apr-08, 11:00

NEW YORK - CBS's $75m experiment to reshape US evening news appears to be more or less over as reports continue to swirl this week that Katie Couric will leave the network after the presidential elections.

CBS is trailing its network rivals in third place and has lost 11% of viewers as discussions this week all point to Couric's exit half way through her five-year contract.

When CBS lured Couric away from rival NBC in 2006 it planned to shake up the evening news and launch the first female solo anchor of a US network news show.

Couric stepped into big shoes replacing veteran Dan Rather in a $15m a year five-year deal.

The Wall Street Journal says she could now leave after a new President is sworn in next January as her mission to introduce a less "stodgy" and more "perky" approach has fallen flat.

The low ratings are a major worry to CBS network execs. Industry ratings putting CBS in third place among the news networks has cost it millions in lost revenues.

CBS is denying the Journal story and says it has no plans for change.

There was an uplift in viewers when Couric first joined, but those new viewers and some of the old ones reacted against Couric's style and did not come back.

It did not help that last year Rather, who after a long illustrious career was forced out after the report on President Bush's National Guard service, fired across her bows and said that Couric was "dumbing down" and "tarting up" the CBS 'Evening News', which was once hosted by the legendary Walter Cronkite.

Some media pundits are speculating that she could return to NBC although it is also reported that she is pushing for a move to her own '60 Minutes'-style show or possibly even a talk show.

Couric's arrival at CBS as solo female anchor is attributed by some to giving Five the idea to poach Natasha Kaplinsky from the BBC on a £1m a year salary.

Kaplinsky's arrival and her more casual approach has given Five a boost, but it might be a short lived one. Last week it was announced she was several months pregnant meaning Five will lose her shortly.