Katie Couric Strikes Again! First Sarah Palin, Next Up Glenn Beck
In a New York Times story today about CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, she and her bosses quiet critics about whether she’ll be exiting her current role any time soon. “She says she will remain there until her contract expires in 2011,” writes Brian Stelter.
But the bigger story is her next show – an hour-long Web program, debuting tomorrow with the biggest media star of the moment: Glenn Beck.
The new show is called, “@katiecouric” (just like her Twitter handle). The Times gives a description:
Taped against a black background, her new interview Web show may remind some of “Charlie Rose,” the PBS interview program. Her first guest is the popular and controversial Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck. Interviews with former Vice President Al Gore and the actor Hugh Jackman are to follow.
Couric made a call out on Twitter for questions early Sunday morning: “Interviewing Glenn Beck tomorrow. Would love to include some of your questions. What would you ask him? Send them to me here.”
The Couric sit-down will likely give an insight into, and potentially demystify, the Fox News host. With an hour to delve into the psyche of Beck, there’s going to be a lot of interest and opportunity for revealing moments. And interviewing has consistently been one of Couric’s strongest suits. But why would Beck do it? Couric’s highest profile interview from 2008 was the Cronkite Award-winning series of sit-downs with former Alaska governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin – an iconic interview that left Palin and her fans with a bad taste in their mouths about Couric. Still, Couric and Beck share a personal publicist (Matthew Hiltzik) which may have facilitated the exchange, and whatever the ratings of the Evening News, the joining of the two very high profile anchors (according to our Power Grid) is likely to help both.
The show could be an important outlet for Couric, as a means of furthering her brand on the Web as well as landing buzz-worthy guests. It’s something we talked about as a way to turn around the ratings of the CBS Evening News a couple months ago. Also, last week we talked to CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus on Mediaite Office Hours about the ratings and more:
I’m very proud of the job we do every night, very proud of the job Katie does. We don’t get ratings that are as high as I would like obviously, but as I’ve said to everyone, all you can really do is control the quality of your content. If you continue to put on a better and more appealing, more intelligent broadcast than more people will start to watch
