Katie Couric

By James Poniewozik Monday, May 16, 2011

    • The Great Katie Couric Experiment is over. CBS signed her in 2006 to bring in star power, generate buzz and grow the audience of the CBS Evening News. She accomplished the first two. Her hire was based on the idea that the business wasn't dying and that it was possible to attract a new audience and increase the total evening-news viewership if you spent enough money and tried something different. That didn't happen. While evening-news anchoring is still a prestigious job with a decent audience, it doesn't have the profile it once did. Other programs now have more influence than the interchangeable evening newscasts. Only her next move--and CBS's--will tell if Couric was a blip in the history of the CBS Evening News or if the CBS Evening News was a blip in the history of Katie Couric.