On the heels of ABC’s huge audience–nearly 15 million viewers–for Diane Sawyer‘s exclusive interview with kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard comes word the interview, which was previewed on Sawyer’s ABC World News, boosted ABC’s evening newscast into a first place finish ahead of NBC Nightly News. On Thursday night, World News beat Nightly by 106,000 total viewers (7.656 million vs. 7.550 million), and helped drive World News to its best weekly performance in six weeks.

Compared to a year ago, World News has grown its total viewing audience for twenty consecutive weeks, leading many ABC News insiders to believe their goal of passing long-dominant Nightly News is not far off. Last week’s ratings put the gap between the two evening newscasts at its smallest point in nearly a year.

CBS, meanwhile, with new anchor Scott Pelley, remains well behind in third place, with an average total audience of 5.625 million viewers.

The AP article opens:

Katie Couric is leaving her anchor post at “CBS Evening News” less than five years after becoming the first woman to solely helm a network TV evening newscast.

A network executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Couric has not officially announced her plans, reported the move to The Associated Press on Sunday night. The 54-year-old anchor is expected to launch a syndicated talk show in 2012 and several companies are vying for her services.

Couric’s move from NBC’s “Today” show was big news in 2006, and she began in the anchor chair with a flourish that September. She tried to incorporate her strengths as an interviewer into a standard evening news format and millions of people who normally didn’t watch the news at night checked it out. But they drifted away and the evening newscast reverted to a more traditional broadcast.

Read the entire article here.

Couric’s future as the Evening News anchor has appeared to be coming to an end based on a number of thinly veiled statements and positions taken both by the network and Couric that have appeared to indicate to many that both parties have amicably agreed that it is time to part ways. Perhaps most notably, a somewhat sentimental Couric appeared on the program of fellow CBS cohort David Letterman and appeared somewhat sentimental in describing her next move to a sincere Letterman who implored her to stay on (a video of which is embedded below.)

For NBC, Nightly‘s win marks 77 consecutive weeks on top.

But at ABC, news execs point to promising signs World News is making progress. It was the best ratings ABC’s best February performance in three years, and compared to February 2010, World News grew its total audience by one percent, the only network evening news program to grow (CBS was down by 4% and NBC dropped by 10%).

While NBC had the most significant year-to-year drop, the network did have unusually high ratings a year ago during coverage of the Olympics, meaning a dip would be expected. For ABC, though, even the small growth–combined with cutting into NBC’s longstanding lead–indicates viewers giving the Sawyer-led newscast a fresh look.

Bloomberg’s Ronald Grover and Andy Fixmer report Couric’s reps are in talks with CBS, with both sides accepting that Couric’s salary must be reduced if the star anchor stays at the network:

This season, the “CBS Evening News With Katie Couric” is averaging 5.73 million viewers a night, according to Nielsen Co. data, behind NBC and ABC, and down 24 percent from when she took over in 2006.

Neither Couric nor CBS would comment, but reports last week indicated Couric could be a big draw in daytime syndicated television, should she decide to leave CBS. She’s also been tied to a potential move to CNN.

If she cuts a new deal with CBS, Bloomberg reports she could see an expanded role beyond anchor duties at Evening News and the occasional reporting duties for 60 Minutes.

Murkowski sounded confident she’d win in the CBS Evening News interview – and also took some shots at Palin.

“I’m still her Senator, I’m going to work hard to represent her,” said Murkowski of Palin, but added, “we don’t really have much of a relationship.”

When asked by Couric if she’d endorse Palin for President, Murkowski said no. While complimenting her for being “engaged in motivating people,” she said, “She would not be my choice for president. I just do not think she has those leadership qualities, that intellectual curiosity that allows for building good and great policies.”

There was an interesting exchange when Couric took on the role of the Mama Grizzly herself. “If I were Sarah Palin, what would you say to me?” she asked. Said Murkowski:

We have common interests and a shared love for our state. I’d like to think if there were an opportunity to help do something good for Alaska she would call me or I would call her. But she, again, she is not really that keyed into the state anymore.

By the time Palin decides whether she’ll run for President, likely sometime in mid-2011, she’ll have a pretty good idea who will support the run and who won’t, thanks to the media’s go-to line of question for fellow political leaders.

And in the ongoing Alaskan Senate race saga, Murkowski has now pulled ahead of Joe Miller in votes counted, although there are still enough votes being challenged by the Miller campaign that a court case may be inevitable. By Friday, however, there may be enough uncontested ballots for Murkowski, so it appears she will be the likely winner.

Here’s part of Couric’s interview last night:

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Today, CBS News fires back, responding directly to the “fabrications” in the article and pointing to the “perverse hobby” of Dana and others who predict the fall of the Tiffany Network.

“Predictions of CBS News’ collapse is a perverse hobby for some writers and they are tiresome, unoriginal and always wrong,” a CBS News spokesperson tells Mediaite. “And in this case even the article’s purported evidence of decline is a ridiculous series of outright fabrications and distortions.”

One area of evidence in the article relates to business cards. “The person who handled ordering business cards vanished, and staffers haven’t been able to get them since,” writes Dana.

“The claim that nobody at News has been able to get their business cards because someone was cut is nonsense,” says the spokesperson. “I have no idea who she thinks vanished, but I can tell you there’s been no interruption in ordering business cards.”

Another juicy nugget in Dana’s piece related to cell phones, with the surprising revelation “cell phone services are blocked on company-provided BlackBerrys for many producers, who are now encouraged to communicate by text.” The CBS News spokesperson disputes this as well.

The suggestion that cell phone service has been cut is even more absurdly inaccurate. All producers are provided with cell phones or allowed to use their own cell phones and invoice the division. In addition to the cell phones CBS News provides, all producers also get BlackBerrys to ensure redundancy. It costs more, but there has never even been consideration of cutting back on any of that.

It’s unclear what Dana means by “the communication between CBS brass, including news division president Sean McManus, and their staff has all but vanished,” but the implication doesn’t add up. McManus sent several emails last month company-wide, and obviously individual emails as well (in addition to leading a daily conference call) – just like any head of a news network would.

One area, however, can’t be disputed. Numbers don’t lie, and the ratings for the Evening News and The Early Show have been steadily and consistently dismal (with the Evening News tying a low last week). As Dana points out, “It hasn’t been pretty anywhere, but it’s been particularly rough for CBS.” She also reports more cuts are coming in the fall.

Dana has kept a focus on Couric for years, writing of her imminent departure from CBS News back in April 2008. Nearly two and a half years later, this latest network obituary could end up being just as incorrect.

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The honor goes to Andrea Mitchell of NBC, according to the invaluable resource that is Andrew Tyndall‘s TyndallReport.com. Here’s a full breakdown.

Michell currently serves as Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC, as well as anchor of the 1pmET Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC. Tyndall reports she had 2,416 minutes of air time on the NBC Nightly News – an astonishing figure. Right behind are her colleagues Robert Bazell, with 2,328 and Pete Williams, with 2,280.

Here are the top 10:

NBC Andrea Mitchell Diplomatic 2416
NBC Robert Bazell Medicine 2328
NBC Pete Williams Justice 2280
CBS David Martin Pentagon 2096
NBC David Gregory White House 2082
NBC Lisa Myers Capitol/Investigative 2069
CBS Jim Axelrod White House 1960
NBC Jim Miklaszewski Pentagon 1829
NBC Anne Thompson Domestic/Environment 1758
CBS Anthony Mason Economy 1697

One thing this shows is NBC and CBS have kept their reporters on the beat for longer than ABC News and ABC World News, which has seen far more turnover (with Dan Harris coming in at #11).

When looking at the top stories of the decade on the evening newscasts, ABC comes up again. The #1 story by far covered by each network was the war in Iraq (invasion, combat all added together). CBS spent 2,329 minutes on the story, followed by NBC with 2,149 and ABC with 1,967. It’s hard to find which stories ABC made up the slightly less time it had covering the Iraq War story. They spent more time on Pres. Obama’s 2008 campaign, Tornadoes and TARP, but only very marginally.

Either way, it’s fun to look at – check out TyndallReport.com for more.

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“…Brian Williams has spent much of his tenure at “NBC Nightly News” as a young Turk competing against two older, avuncular and laid-back newsmen, Mr. Gibson and Bob Schieffer of CBS, who filled in after Mr. Rather left his post ahead of schedule. With Ms. Sawyer’s arrival, the three network anchors are evenly matched in looks and take-charge personality.

– The New York Times‘ TV Critic Alessandra Stanley weighs in on the debut of Diane Sawyer.

Stanley’s takeaway from the move is that Sawyer taking over for Charlie Gibson means she, Katie Couric and Brian Williams are now “evenly matched in looks and take-charge personality.” Also, from earlier in the column: “Ms. Sawyer appears to have the same high-octane drive and ambition as Brian Williams and Katie Couric.”

Besides the clear shots at Gibson – what, was he just sitting in the anchor seat half-asleep every night? – the drive and take-charge personality could be argued for each anchor. But what exactly does “evenly matched in looks” even mean? But more importantly, how would (and should) it ever be relevant?

Much of Stanley’s piece was spent praising Sawyer on her interview with Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which was the centerpiece of her debut show. Stanley took it to the next step, writing that the first night suggests Sawyer “seems intent on exotic travel and big ‘gets.’”

There also seems to be one clearly incorrect part of the column (which follows the path of her reputation). Stanley writes Brian Williams “has spent much of his tenure…competing against two older, avuncular and laid-back newsmen, Mr. Gibson and Bob Schieffer of CBS.”

This is there to make the point about the ‘new breed’ of anchors, now that Gibson is gone. But this characterization of Williams’ competition doesn’t add up. Williams took over NBC Nightly News in December 2004. He competed against Dan Rather at CBS until March 2005, then Schieffer after that. But only until August 2006, when Couric took the chair. So Williams has spent much of his tenure competing against Couric, and not one of those “older, avuncular” types.

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There are many reasons for this: here’s why the CBS Evening News is struggling in the ratings, how it can turn things around…and why none of it is Katie Couric‘s fault.

Over the past couple weeks, we’ve talked to several people in and around the program who can provide varied insight into what’s happening at the newscast. As we spoke to people like former CBS Evening News executive producer Rome Hartman (currently executive producer of BBC World News America) and network news analyst Andrew Tyndall of the Tyndall Report, a clearer picture emerged about the roadblocks facing the program and some ways CBS can turn around. With their help, here is our take on the problems, and solutions, for a newscast that has seen record low ratings as recently as last month:

CBS Problem #1: Politics

There’s no denying CBS News is viewed by some as a left-leaning network, and it has nothing to do with Couric. “The perception of the right-wing existed about CBS way before she began at CBS,” says Tyndall. “It might go back as far as Murrow taking on McCarthy, and certainly as far back as Rather facing down Nixon or Rather going after George Bush Senior on Iran Contra.” (Even Cronkite has his detractors on the right.)

But it is without a doubt Dan Rather who cemented the ire of many conservatives, most notably with his 2004 report about the Killian documents. Now, not every Republican is an anti-Evening Newser. And its true that there is a general feeling among many on the right that the media as a whole is biased. But with nearly half the country voting GOP, it doesn’t help bring viewers in when there is a public perception of unfriendliness toward the party.

Making matters worse is the fact that the CBS prime time viewership is actually more red than that of NBC and ABC. This makes it even more difficult to see cross-viewership between the news and entertainment products. The enormous success of CBS in prime time actually ends up working to the detriment of the Evening News.

CBS Problem #2: Lead-in

While local news affiliates lose viewers across the board, it doesn’t detract from the fact they are tremendously important as a lead-in to the evening newscasts. A strong 6pm local newscast (or 5pm in some markets) is key to keeping eyeballs on the national product. A point made by Tyndall was that in many of the bigger markets, the CBS news outlet is particularly weak. A couple examples: KCBS-TV in LA and WBBM-TV in Chicago are floundering in the ratings, and hurt CBS immensely in those markets. (Interestingly, in New York, there’s the opposite effect: WNBC’s low ratings has brought Brian Williams‘ Nightly News to 3rd in the Big Apple.)

But the problems facing the CBS Evening News aren’t completely unique. There are also the significant issues facing all networks, not just CBS:

Evening News Problem #1: Competition

“I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but cumulatively the three network evening broadcasts have been declining about 1 million viewers each year for about a decade now,” says Hartman. “That’s a very sad, but seemingly unstoppable, trend line.”

Tyndall echoes those sentiments. “It’s in decline, that’s just a given,” he says. “There’s nothing in the long run that anyone can do about that. There are forces at play that have nothing to do with the evening broadcasts.”

Namely, 24-hour cable news networks and the Internet. These outlets may not have the gravitas of the evening newscasts, but they have the immediacy. That’s a problem that cannot be overcome.

Evening News Problem #2: Audience

The audience age of evening newscasts is on the rise (now over 60 years old), and the number of people watching the evening newscasts is on the decline. What does that mean? Well, as Hartman puts it bluntly: “People that watch the evening news are dying and they’re not being replaced.”

The CBS average age is highest of the three networks.

Evening News Problem #3: Time

Because of the work schedules of Americans now, fewer and fewer people are able to get home by 6:30pm (or earlier in some markets). The evening newscasts are not going to be changing the start time, so the audience is bound to decrease simply due to not being around to watch them.

So! How does CBS go about solving these problems? Here are a few solutions.

Solution #1: Buzz

When asked about solutions, both Hartman and Tyndall jumped to Couric’s work during the 2008 presidential campaign – and Gov. Sarah Palin.

Says Hartman: “She did the best work of any of the evening news anchors during the political campaign. It was not just the Palin interview. If you look at the work Katie did all through 2008, it was really strong and innovative and smart and original and competitively, I think she was terrific. I think her instinct is to innovate and try new things.”

Tyndall agrees, and points to the Palin interview as part of the reason for the network’s bump in the ratings at the end of 2008: “You could argue the success at the end of last year was a result of buzz from the Palin interviews. The job of these newscasts, first and foremost, is to grow the non-broadcast audience faster than they’re losing the broadcast audience. Palin is the model…To get three or four viral online hits a year which showcase Couric’s special skills, get a buzz about her, get people emailing clips around their social networks, that’s going to be the marketing device: to get people re-sampling the CBS Evening News.”

Couric’s interview with Palin was an iconic moment that put on tape the narrative being woven by her critics. It also showcased Couric’s strong interviewing skills – and of course, did little to fight the liberal bias storyline. These types of interviews and moments are not easy to plan. In many ways, they have to come to Couric as much as she must seek them out. But when the opportunity presents itself, it must be all hands on deck in the same way the Palin interview played out, and was disseminated across the Web and into the national conversation.

She could work towards solving the political problem through these means as well. Let’s say she gets an interview with President Obama, and hits him with some tough questions that severely throw him off his game. Like, ‘Drudge flashing sirens’ throw him off his game. It becomes a moment – and one the CBS Evening News must capitalize on and own.

Solution #2: Integration

No one can discount how incredibly helped the NBC Nightly News is by MSNBC. Lacking a 24-hour cable news outlet is something both CBS and ABC are hurt by, and CBS must find other ways to combat this problem. One way is to showcase Couric, and other Evening News elements on the local affiliates. This could serve to boost the struggling local news outlets in some cases, and also raise the profile of Couric. Featuring Evening News pieces, reporters and more on the late night local newscasts, 11pm in most markets, could showcase the national product in a new way.

In thinking about integration of a different kind, CBS News does seem to have one day perfected – Sunday. “Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes are better than ever,” says Tyndall. “Older than ever, but better than ever.” Couric does appear periodically on 60 Minutes, but it is through these successful outlets that the Evening News could help itself expand on the 22-minutes allotted each weekday.

Solution #3: Change the metrics

When all else fails, find a new measuring stick. Look, when CNN began talking about Fusion data, they did so because the Nielsen metric that combined television viewership and Web readership made them look better. And sure, it got panned by its competitors. And yes, it could be all talk and Nielsen Fusion may never catch on.

But is it so crazy? Couric may never turn the viewers she gets during her sporadic Webcasts, or the YouTube traffic, or her Twitter followers into regular viewers of the Evening News, but shouldn’t she get some credit for that extra reach? (She clearly does in the Power Grid – which is why she’s the only evening news anchor in the Top 5 right now.) There may come a time when ratings actually do take into account what happens online. But until that occurs, it doesn’t mean the facts can’t be a PR point.

There’s something else too – and it relates to history. Maybe we need to stop all the comparisons to The Way It Was, and step back from it all. As Hartman says: “Despite the trends, when you put all the cable news networks together in their prime time audience it doesn’t come close to the last place network’s evening news program on most days. They still have enormous reach and do great work…We all have to be careful about writing the obituary of evening news.”

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You see, I really know next to nothing about Walter Cronkite.  He means nothing at all to me. Hearing that he’s dead was like a looking at a well-painted apartment wall. You get the feeling that a good job might have been done but that’s the limit of the emotional or intellectual reaction.

So why does this make me feel young? Well, let’s face it. Cronkite was important to the kind of people whose memories of our public life is full of Kennedy and King assassinations, the hippies fighting cops at Democratic convention in 1968, the ’60s culture wars, Watergate, Gerald Ford, Vietnam, the oil crises, Elvis’s death and Lennon’s murder, Three Mile Island, and Jimmy Carter’s 1979 summer meltdown.

I care about that stuff the way a guy storming the beach at Normandy cared about the Spanish American war. It’s more well-painted walls.

Now, I don’t speak ill of the dead. But I’ll make an exception: I’m pretty sure that if I did care about Cronkite, I wouldn’t like him very much. No good contrarian can like anyone known as “The Most Trusted Man In America.” Also, I have no admiration for the anchor-as-guide to the world version of television news, and I’m glad it’s a dying form. If, as someone on the television said today, we never see anyone like him again, I’d say that this state of affairs couldn’t have come too soon.

Reading a bit here and there about him has made me suspect I’d dislike him even more than that. From what I can tell in Peter Feld’s write up, he seems to have disdained the lives actually lived by most of his countrymen. I guess it’s not surprising to discover an aversion to the lives of ordinary people in someone who spent his life performing a job that put his face in the living rooms of millions of strangers.

I’m sure his family and friends will miss him, and if I knew any of them I’d be sorry for their loss. And maybe I’d tell them to say thanks to Walter for me. Like I said, it’s rare that the death of a public figure makes me suddenly feel young.

John Carney is Managing Editor of Clusterstock. This piece was originally published at Rise If You Must, his personal website.