Couric fails to keep CBS News on top for long

USAToday reported When Katie Couric began anchoring The CBS Evening News early last month, her initial ratings were so strong — she drew more than 10 million viewers — that it appeared the former NBC Today star might buck network news tradition, catapult the third-place newscast into first place and keep it there.

CBS was stupid to think it would work.

But in seven weeks, talk that CBS News' $15-million-a-year anchor would be crowned the instant queen of the evening news has all but evaporated.

I hope they were smart enough to write some sort of escape clause into that $15 million contract.

Initial viewer curiosity in Couric has worn off, a sign that popularity in the morning does not guarantee success at night. News has dropped from first to third place behind NBC Nightly News and ABC World News. Rival producers are talking much more confidently than they were last month.