Couric Won't Replace King Any Time Soon

Rumor had it that Couric would soon be departing CBS due to her anemic ratings for CNN and would be replacing Larry King. That rumor largely came to halt with the announcement that CNN would extend its contract with King. This exclusive came from Media Bistro:

Sources tell TVNewser that CNN and Larry King have agreed to a contract extension, which will keep the anchor with the network through 2010, beyond his 77th birthday.

A recent New York Times

story speculating about Katie Couric's future reported that King's contract was set to expire in the summer of 2009.

The article also revealed the CBS Evening News anchor was eying King's CNN slot as a possible move if she were to leave CBS. "Couric discussed several things she might do if she left the anchor post, according to the executives, including a daily talk show to be syndicated by CBS, or replacing Larry King in a prime-time position on CNN," the Times story claimed.

CNN doesn't comment on employee contracts, but a CNN spokesperson tells TVNewser, "Larry is the best there is, he'll be here for a long time."

There was no talk on money, which surprised me, but I am sure it is significant.

I am no Larry King fan -- half the time he doesn't seem quite sure where he is or what he is doing. However, I think he makes far more sense for the format approach of his show then Couric would provide. Couric is about to become a media orphan, in my opinion. She is perfectly suited for early morning news shows (like Today, for which she is famous) and I am sure she probably believes that such programming is beneath her.

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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Creating the New Media

The Internet has turned the world upside down. Brick and mortar has been rapidly replaced by click and portal. People have huge businesses without a building and the hottest TV networks are online.

For example, YouTube wasn't just another "website", but was the first new major network of the 21st century. Clever websites are not purchased by companies like Google for over $1.6 billion. A completely new media platform that has the convenience of the web and the visual qualities of TV apparently are.

The changes going on through the Internet are becoming an obsession of mine, something I discuss on my radio show (see video above), write about in this blog, and even think about when I'm alone (while looking at websites that fuel this interest).

Adding to this Internet debate is a website I recently stumbled on called Brightcove.com. The purpose of the site is to help people and businesses to create online TV networks of their own. Their client list is impressive, including A&E and CBS News (broadcast and cable), The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (newspapers), as well as Time and Prevention (magazines). However, the site's value isn't limited to companies in the media, but to any company trying to develop creative ways to attract and keep customers.

What is most interesting about Brightcove is that you don't have to be a mega corporation to create your own online network. Instead, they offer options that allows small businesses to have the platform at no cost and share revenue for advertisements that they can run on the site they give you (with plenty of room for additional inventory). This makes it possible to have a very powerful media platform with minimal investment.

In addition, the site offers several lengthy articles on how to make the most of this impressive tool. I've spent hours on the site and I suggest you spend time there too.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and is Publisher of the Houston Business Review.

Is CBS News Using Rosie's Strategy for Ratings?

For the last several days I have felt like I have been watching Rosie O'Donnell, but she is largely under the radar screen. Instead, I have been watching the battle breaking out on national news between Dan Rather and CBS President Les Moonves over the "demise" of the network since "Rather left."

Rather says that the network -- and broadcast news in general -- have been "dumbing down and tarting up." Both comments seem to be pointed at Katie Couric (photo), although Rather denies it and says it is a statement about news in general. Les Moonves has gone immediately to war, calling Rather "sexist" and that he is suffering from sour grapes. Furthermore, Moonves argued that the network was devastated long before Rather left and before Katie got there, which is why the veteran needed to be replaced.

I'm now waiting for nasty comments about someone being "too fat," "too stupid," or having "bad hair." Oh, that's the Trump and O'Donnell debate, network news would never resort to that. Hmm, then again, I guess they already have. I deny, however, that the network is at all interested in "tarting itself up," in spite of my choice of a photo. Furthermore, would the major news network resort to Trump and O'Donnell tactics to increase ratings? Of course not.

CBS Should Hire Stone Phillips...Fast

Stone Phillips was "let go" today from NBC following a fifteen year as co-anchor of the very popular "Dateline" program. I believe that CBS should hire him fast.

The 53 year old veteran broadcast journalist is smart (Yale graduate), very articulate, handsome, and projects himself very well. He has won numerous Emmys and Peabody Awards over the years and has a reputation of being extremely professional. I believe he would be an excellent replacement for Katie Couric, who will be likely to leave CBS in the near future, in my opinion.

He has the right look and style to attract the younger set that Katie was suppose to get, but he is a mature enough male not to chase off the primary audience of nightly news (males who are 60 years old or older).

He wasn't let go because of lack of talent, but because of Draconian efforts by the peacock network to keep costs down. He isn't being replaced by anyone. Instead his co-host, Ann Curry will do the whole show on her own. Ann is extremely popular on the highly rated "Today Show" so choosing someone who had to go was quite simple in this scenario.

I believe CBS should jump on this. They can acquire him at a very competitive rate because of the circumstances he is under. I believe they should get him pinch hitting for Katie and put him in right away as the permanent anchor of the weekend news broadcasts. Don't be surprised if this happens quickly. Don't be surprised if this happens sooner rather than later.

I believe if we don't find him at CBS we will see him at the new Fox Business Channel in a very prominent role. This will not be the last we see of Stone Phillips.

The Incredible Shrinking Katie Couric

Katie Couric (photo, in much happier days) continues to struggle in the ratings game and the future looks grim, to say the least. There have been several firings all around her and reorganization in the news department is inevitable.

I've said on this site before that "I hate to say I told you so," but I must be lying, because I again want to point out that she was destined to fail. I pointed this out the day she joined CBS News. The reasons are simple:

* Nightly news is made up primarily of mature males and seem to like someone who can sit down and visit with them. An attractive, relatively younger woman may not fit that description when it comes to the weighty news issues of the day.

* Cheap ploys, like attempting to use an attractive woman to reach a more profitable and younger demographic won't work. The younger people want their news immediately. The best source for that is online.

* I think that older viewers (the average age of a nightly news watcher is 60) tends to be more conservative. Katie Couric built a reputation at NBC as a liberal and carries it with her to CBS.

Couric was "dead on arrival" when she arrived at Nightly News. I cannot say for sure what the future holds for her, but I feel comfortable saying that it doesn't include staying at CBS.

The Network News Mystique

It shouldn't surprise anyone that I'm a devoted viewer of news in general during the day and Fox News in particular. My posts at this blog reflect that fact. However, on those very rare days that I'm at home at 5:30 PM (Central), I begin looking for a network news channel like clockwork. In the past it was always NBC because I like the way Brian Williams presents. His liberal agenda, however, has me moving away from the network. Then, with the move of Katie Couric to CBS, I became very intrigued to watch that train wreck unfold. Now, more often than not, I'm tuning into Charlie Gibson (photo) of ABC News because it is slightly less biased than the other two.

The question is, with the several hours of news I see daily, why would I want to see the broadcast networks? It has come down to a few reasons:

* Creature of habit. Before there were so many cable news channels, people got their news from the networks at the end of the day. The younger a person is, the less likely this will be a factor.

* Entertainment quality. The networks spend significantly more on the 30 minutes of nightly news than the cable companies do on hours of their news programming. They use their best talent, with the best sets, and the finest graphics. If "good looking" broadcasts is important to you, than you probably still find yourself watching the network evening news.

* The "catch all" factor. When you cover the news 24/7 like they do on the cable channels and you find yourself watching them often, you often wonder if you are missing something because there is so much out there. That 30 minutes tells you all the major stories of the day (at least we hope).

* The major network "legitimacy." I think everyone wants to know what "the big networks" are saying. The stories they cover and the way they cover them often tells us the direction the news is going and the stories we can expect in the future.

In light of the fact that I'm typically disgusted by the liberal ideology pervasive in the "mainstream media" today, I'm surprised that I can still stomach it, let alone take extra steps to watch it. But through it all the major networks still have their own mystique.

NBC News and the Extended Broadcast

Tonight, NBC Nightly News made history when, in the first time in its history, one advertiser (Philips electronics) was the sole sponsor of the show and gave us one minute, 15 seconds in ads instead of 7 minutes. NBC then asked us to comment and let them know our thoughts. This is what I wrote:

Clearly NBC is countering the problems facing TV news more forcefully than its counterparts at CBS and ABC with the move towards extended newscasts and the more strategic use of podcasts. The networks are trying to reach the "Accumulators"; those between the ages of the mid 30s to the mid 50s who find time to be their greatest asset and who make every effort to protect such.

I wrote about the problems facing the networks in detail in my blog at http://houstonbusinessdaily.blogspot.com/2006/11/meet-accumulators-and-how-to-reach.html. With the extended newscast and the podcasts, NBC is clearly showing its intention to be around in the 21st century. I will be discussing this in more detail at www.bizplusblog.com. Congratulations on the move, I think it will be win for Philips, NBC, and us viewers.

What else do I wish to add?

First, NBC intentions are not altruistic, but a desperate attempt to recoup the huge number of viewers in the 30s, 40s, and 50s who want their news when and how they want it, and are going else where to get it. I wrote about such in the Accumulator entry mentioned above. The average age of the typical evening news viewer is still 60 (not the prime group advertisers desire), this action by NBC will not change that fact, in my opinion.

Second, it costs a lot of money to produce national nightly news broadcasts. MSNBC laid off over 700 people a few months ago, due greatly to this problem. If people continue to go to the web, rather than TV, they will eventually abandon the latter as a news source and fill that time with some reality show that costs virtually nothing to produce. We will then get virtually all our news online where it can be updated quickly and produced cheaply. TV news will likely be dead entirely except for niche stations (e.g., Fox News, CNBC, etc.) and for the occasional local news broadcast.

You can see why I relegated these comments to my blog, I'm afraid NBC may not have liked what I had to say and they could have failed to include my comments. (Yes, I'm guilty of a little blatant self promotion, the occupational hazard of bloggers).

Hey, Katie Couric, I Hate to Say I told You So

Hey Katie, I actually miss you on NBC's Today and wish we had you back. I'm also sorry to be right about my prediction shortly after you took the helm of CBS Nightly News that it wouldn't work out for you. But right I was, it appears. And although you may not be leaving your anchor spot any time soon, it appears you won't be raising your ratings much either.

The reasons why I said it wouldn't work back on Sept. 5 of 2006:

1) It isn't a real news program, but a mini version of a news magazine.

2) She isn't the right approach to reach the typical nightly news viewer who is 60 years old. She is too young and possibly too female, for the hard news crowd who tends to watch that type of programming (I believe viewers of such programs prefer an older son or the wise next door neighbor over a younger female).

3) Finally, that demographic (60 year olds) isn't even the group advertisers are trying to reach. Rather they are looking for the affluent and time crunched "Accumulators", who get the news when they want and it isn't at 6:30 Eastern.

She went from number 1 her first week as anchor when people tuned in out of curiosity and she is already down to number 3. CBS's $15 million lady may already be in trouble. But I think that was the case before she even did her first broadcast.

Katie Couric's Big Day

Today was Katie's big day as host of CBS Evening News. She made history by being the first female anchor of the most prestigious and important 30 minutes of news. Yes, I know, that is a lot of hyperbole, but that is the media's position on it, not mine. In reality, evening news is in desperate shape and Katie Couric wearing little to no clothes would not be able to likely save its staggering decline in viewership (by the way she was fully and appropriately dressed). Furthermore, the approach they took with Katie will likely contribute to this media's further decline.

First of all, the new approach is no longer the evening news. It is, instead, a mini version of a news magazine such as 20/20, Primetime Live, or 60 Minutes. Instead of making sure the major news stories were covered in less than 30 minutes, Katie gave Morgan Spurlock of "Supersize Me" fame an opportunity to trash our "divided nation" and to express his opinion that we need to stop operating in extremes in her new "Free Speech" segment. Furthermore she had Thomas Friedman of the New York Times on who discussed how we need to restore the friendly US that much of the world loved and appreciated (and often used as a doormat, but we won't go there). The new format was mildly entertaining, but it wasn't the "Evening News."

Second, it isn't the right approach to reach the typical Evening News viewer. That viewer is 60 years old and likes to hear from older sons (such as Brian Williams and Charlie Gibson) and not necessarily from that "chatty" Couric girl. I'm just talking the typical senior, in my opinion, not necessarily my view. I don't see her surviving long trying to reach the senior crowd. Further, the networks are actually trying to distance themselves from seniors and are trying to pursue the all important Accumulators -- 35 to 55 year olds who largely drive the economy today. Which is exactly why they pursued Katie, who falls in the age group and other parts of that key demographic.

Third, she won't likely reach the Accumulators either. Most of them are doing a lot of things at 5:30, but watching the evening news isn't one of them. They are picking up kids, making meals, taking care of parents, or several other things that have nothing to do with the smiling Katie. This audience is reached now, largely, through the Internet, which allows them to watch the footage they want to watch and see it when they care to see it. In no time the podcast version of the news will have a much larger audience then the TV broadcast, but with the rate evening news is going, that won't be saying much.

I hate to be negative. I actually like Katie and miss her on the Today Show, but I believe this experiment will fail and she will have an audience significantly smaller than she did early each morning on NBC. By the way, the morning shows like Today are about the only viable way to reach the all important Accumulators because they are busy multi tasking and find the background noise of information and the relaxed environment of the program a great way to launch a day. It is sad she left this viable place to reach an audience to go to the largely dead network news. But don't worry, we will likely see her on some other day time show in the not too distant future. Watch out The View!