It's all show biz

Today the final confirmation that the television news is supposed to be entertaining more anything else arrive. Katie Couric is leaving Today to host the CBS Evening news.

If not for someone else, TFM almost gave CBS the Knucklehead award. Dear wife says she won't watch CBS anymore. It's not about Katie but rather DW wants the news. I am kind of ambivalent on the subject, the writing has been on the wall for sometime. I do have to wonder what's next- Julia Roberts hosting ABC's?

Open Post- Outside the Beltway, Jo's Cafe, TMH's Bacon Bits, Right Wing Nation

NEW YORK (AP) -- Now that Katie Couric is making the move from dawn to dusk, her legacy and the future of CBS News depends on an audience that, according to a new poll, prefers to see her in the morning.

Asked if they would rather see Couric in her longtime role as "Today" host or as the first woman to anchor a network weekday evening newscast on her own, 49 percent favored the morning and 29 percent said evening, according to a poll conducted this week by The Associated Press and TV Guide.

After 15 years as morning television's queen, Couric confirmed Wednesday that she is leaving NBC's "Today" show to become anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News" this fall. Her audience at "Today" is about 6 million viewers; "CBS Evening News" has about 7.5 million.

The woman who dressed in Marilyn Monroe and SpongeBob SquarePants outfits on Halloween and gave viewers a tour of her colon will take the position once held by the iconic Walter Cronkite and the ousted Dan Rather.

But claims that Couric lacks the "gravitas" for the job are "thinly disguised sexism," said news consultant Andrew Tyndall.

Few questioned Tom Brokaw when he switched from a "Today" host in the 1970s to become NBC top anchor. At ABC, Charles Gibson frequently did the morning and evening newscasts on the same day this past year during the late Peter Jennings' illness.

"I think her strengths" - three hours a day of live broadcasting covering a wide swath of topics - "will evolve and magnify to fit the task," said Frank Sesno, a journalism professor at George Mason University and special CNN correspondent.

Couric appeared close to tears at times as she made the announcement on "Today."