Couric: "Today" Decision Tomorrow
Couric: "Today" Decision Tomorrow
by Josh Grossberg
Katie Couric isn't ready to make up her mind just yet.
NBC's Today cohost, who's being courted by CBS to take over its permanent evening news anchor job, tells the New Yorker magazine that she doesn't plan on announcing her future plans until fall at the earliest.
Speculation has risen in recent days that Couric, 48, might say so long to Matt Lauer, the Peacock and her alarm clock, when her $13 million-a-year deal expires next May and take over the anchor seat vacated by Dan Rather five months ago.
However, the early morning TV queen says she's in no hurry to start sleeping in.
"I have, when it's operating on all four cylinders, one of the best jobs in television," Couric told the New Yorker. "At the same time, everybody needs recharging."
She did cop to feeling a bit beaten up over Today's ratings slump.
"I feel like a human piñata," Couric said in the new issue of the magazine. "The disappointing thing is, no candy is going to spill out."
The number one-rated morning show for the past 10 years, Today saw its lead over ABC competitor Good Morning America, fronted by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson, shrink drastically--from an average from 1.3 million viewers last year to a mere 43,000 viewers one week in May, according to Nielsen Media Research.
During that time, the network axed Today show exec producer Tom Touchet--who had held the reins since November 2002 and who, per industry wags, frequently clashed with Couric over the show's direction, and replaced him with former sports producer Jim Bell.
The show quickly rebounded with hot "gets," including Couric's one-on-one with runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks and Lauer's highly publicized clash with Tom Cruise, widening the gap over GMA to 700,000 viewers the week of June 20.
In the New Yorker interview, Couric took the diva criticism in stride, noting that it "goes with the territory, unfortunately, of being successful and female."
She also added that her girl-next-door likeability, which made the show a ratings powerhouse after she replaced Deborah Norville in 1991, has also made her an attractive target. According to the magazine, Couric's Q rating for viewer approval still exceeds Sawyer's, but her negative rating has increased by 20 percent.
Asked whether she'd ever considered an image makeover, Couric demurred.
"I've never tried to be über-sexy," she said. "I want to age gracefully."
Whether that means making the move to straight news, Couric wouldn't say.
As for Lauer, 47, instead of an evening news job, he told the New Yorker he imagined himself following in the footsteps of the man he replaced at Today, Bryant Gumble, and semi-retiring by the time he's 50.
"I don't want to work five days a week," he said.
by Josh Grossberg
Katie Couric isn't ready to make up her mind just yet.
NBC's Today cohost, who's being courted by CBS to take over its permanent evening news anchor job, tells the New Yorker magazine that she doesn't plan on announcing her future plans until fall at the earliest.
Speculation has risen in recent days that Couric, 48, might say so long to Matt Lauer, the Peacock and her alarm clock, when her $13 million-a-year deal expires next May and take over the anchor seat vacated by Dan Rather five months ago.
However, the early morning TV queen says she's in no hurry to start sleeping in.
"I have, when it's operating on all four cylinders, one of the best jobs in television," Couric told the New Yorker. "At the same time, everybody needs recharging."
She did cop to feeling a bit beaten up over Today's ratings slump.
"I feel like a human piñata," Couric said in the new issue of the magazine. "The disappointing thing is, no candy is going to spill out."
The number one-rated morning show for the past 10 years, Today saw its lead over ABC competitor Good Morning America, fronted by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson, shrink drastically--from an average from 1.3 million viewers last year to a mere 43,000 viewers one week in May, according to Nielsen Media Research.
During that time, the network axed Today show exec producer Tom Touchet--who had held the reins since November 2002 and who, per industry wags, frequently clashed with Couric over the show's direction, and replaced him with former sports producer Jim Bell.
The show quickly rebounded with hot "gets," including Couric's one-on-one with runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks and Lauer's highly publicized clash with Tom Cruise, widening the gap over GMA to 700,000 viewers the week of June 20.
In the New Yorker interview, Couric took the diva criticism in stride, noting that it "goes with the territory, unfortunately, of being successful and female."
She also added that her girl-next-door likeability, which made the show a ratings powerhouse after she replaced Deborah Norville in 1991, has also made her an attractive target. According to the magazine, Couric's Q rating for viewer approval still exceeds Sawyer's, but her negative rating has increased by 20 percent.
Asked whether she'd ever considered an image makeover, Couric demurred.
"I've never tried to be über-sexy," she said. "I want to age gracefully."
Whether that means making the move to straight news, Couric wouldn't say.
As for Lauer, 47, instead of an evening news job, he told the New Yorker he imagined himself following in the footsteps of the man he replaced at Today, Bryant Gumble, and semi-retiring by the time he's 50.
"I don't want to work five days a week," he said.
posted by Scott Fish at 12:30 AM
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