The TV Zone

So, what did you think of "The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" last night? First - ever - "Evening News" edition in prime time, 8:00 p.m., which makes it a landmark in the television news business.

My thoughts:

1.) A regular edition - with few, or no hooks, that would make you think this is different. Why? Because the whole idea, if I understood it correctly, was to show viewers exactly what this program looks like on a typical night.

Bottom line: Smart decision. Any gimmickry or bells 'n whistles would suggest a bait-and-hook; best to simply reveal what you do and leave it at that.

2.) Not much Katie. There was certainly some, but the ratio of Katie to the rest of the program was just about the same as on most nights. Obvious exception was that long set-piece on the abuse of Army wives, reported by KC, plus a little cross-talk with Steve Hartman.

Bottom line: Again, a smart decision. Too much KC would suggest this whole venture was a vanity project, designed to puff up her Q scores and "likability." It would imply NEEDINESS. In other words, it woulda felt like an infomercial for Katie. That woulda been foolish - viewers already know who she is and what she does; they need to see what kind of show she's fronting every night.

3.) Normal commercial load. Which is to say, a lot of ads.

Bottom line: A grave mistake; in fact, so grave that I think it nearly botched the whole experiment. Why not reduce the commercial load for JUST ONE NIGHT? Why not a single-sponsor telecast? Anything that woulda kept viewers watching rather than forcing them to turn to "Idol" or whatever else they wanted to turn to. ("Single sponsor" shows have been around a while, BTW.)

4.) Story composition about average.

Bottom line: By "average," I mean "not great." The lede, a Chip Reid talker on the bailout vote, was freshened up, but the outcome was obvious (and reported) by 6:30. The Hartman piece on the survivor of Flight 1549? Too soft. The gang warfare in Mexico piece? Solid enough, I suppose, but what was the daily hook? I'd have bopped that one to the 6:30 show, and run the terrific Elizabeth Palmer piece at 8:00 instead (the story on rabid corruption in Kabul). And a Dave Price weather story? Redundant, to the extreme.

So, the bottom bottom line: The experiment was a worthy one and probably accomplished what CBS News set out to accomplish - that Katie's a good anchor, and the show she anchors deserves a second chance. Now...do another primetime edition...

Just got off the phone with Sean McManus, prez of CBS News and Sports, who told me some more stuff about this novel prime-time experiment ... you know, the one with Katie doing a half-hour of "Evening News" at 8 next Wednesday (see below...)

* This has "never been done before," he says. An amazing stat, considering that the first edition aired 61 years ago (May 3, 1948).

* No, this will not beat "Idol," Sean admits. "We're not expecting a big rating," he says. "It's another effort to get people to sample [and] every time we place Katie in high profile situations, like election night, she always seems to distinguish herself...This is one more opportunity."

* This is not a stalking horse for a regular prime-time edition of "EN." "The economics of primetime don't allow us to do that."

* Yes, CBS is looking at other ways to pop her visibility, and aired a three-minute minicast during the the AFC championship telecast. Anything else? "The Superbowl but that's 53 weeks away." (Of course, he means when CBS gets the game.)

* The focus on building Katie's numbers will be via the Web. She's already got that Youtube show, and does the CNET webcast. "A lot of priority will be placed on the Web; that has been [largely] untapped."

* Next week's special prime-time edition "is going to be a very different broadcast, in terms of content [from the earlier edition] but it's the same format...What we're trying to do is illustrate to people who might not have seen what kind of a broadcast we produce every night."

(Above, Sean/Katie...)

If you haven't yet seen, YOU MUST watch this video that is now raging around the Internet. It's Sarah Palin on the media! Notably, she takes a nice little hit on Katie Couric, who's "not the center of the universe."

Or the fact that that Tina Fey line about her kids as unwilling partners in marriage made "the momma grizzly in me" rise.

Her whack on Katie's the best bit - says CBS edited the interviews to make her look like a dummy by editing stuff out. "Katie, you're not the center of everyone's universe," says Sarah, as she watches Katie tell David Letterman that other interviewers shoulda asked why she doesn't read newspapers.

Here's the clip, and it's produced by John Ziegler - he's a libertarian radio talk show host in LA, who's been sharply critical of the media's swooning love affair with Barack Obama. Clearly he found a sympathetic ear with Momma Griz...The clip's sensational...

Katie?.

Yes, what does this mean for Katie, who only five or so months ago was buried by the Major Media Outlets like the Wall Street Journal and other members of the Let's Bury Katie Choir?

I've just crawled out from under my bed because I heard the sky was falling - Prez Bush said so after all - but looked up to see that it was only rain coming down, so I finally had a good look at the Palin-Couric interview, Part 2, that'll air tonight and has been posted on CBS already and has been widely derided ... err, dissected in places like Gawker.

Here's what it means: That Couric will be the anchor of "Evening News" for years to come, and that after two years of soaring arias from members of the Let's Bury Katie Choir, that the music will finally stop. She's turned a corner, the corner she needed to turn, whereby she is no longer a rival, and third place one at that, to Williams and Gibson, but a potential threat to them. Much has been said about Palin's performance, and because TV Zone studiously stays away from politics, you may draw your own conclusion. But we do have opinions about TV stars, and mine on Couric is that she was terrific - clean, sober, intelligent, solid, prepared and respectful. She allowed Palin to be hoisted by her own petard.

This is just what Couric needed right now - a big interview at an important time in history and in the body of a telecast, "The Evening News" that is consistently good. She's got her mojo, and mojo can lead to momentum ... and she's gotten it at exactly the right time.

You go girl.

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(Pix: Peter Kramer / Paul J. Richards / Getty Images)

Don't know about you, but I'm beginning to think Katie "Outta Here by January" Couric isn't acting like someone who's ready to get outta there by January. First, she told TV scribes back in July that she's staying in the anchor chair beyond the inauguration (a prediction echoed by her own boss). Then last night, she and CBS launch this: A webcast on CNET that was 45 minutes long, pretty good, and revealing a side of Couric that is slightly more familiar to viewers of "Today" over fifteen years than the stiff-upper-lipped automaton she sometimes imitates in the anchor chair every night.

She called herself "loosey goosey;" you be the judge.

You may be thinking: "A webcast on CNET? WHO CARES!!??" Please allow me to correct your understandable impressionism: This is a pretty big deal. Back in May, CBS paid about $1.8 billion for a website that had virtually no logical place in its media "portfolio," though promised to change that situation forthwith; a bunch of new CBS shows are planned for CNET, and I wouldn't be surprised if the network even brings 'em to next summer's press tour (assuming there is a tour by then.)

How'd she do on this? From what I can tell, fine; has a "web-exclusive" Caroline Kennedy interview, some cross-talk segments with Bob Schieffer et al, and otherwise fronted a credible debut webcast. This will go forward, BTW, and will be part of what she does on a regular basis for CBS News and "Evening News." (Meanwhile, Charlie Gibson yesterday took his first web baby steps, by posting his first ever blog. )

Does all this sound like someone who's ready to disappear in three months? I wonder. I wonder...

If you missed this morning's "The View" it's well-worth clicking here to watch the Katie Couric Interview; no news out of this, per se, but she has an amusing riposte to all those who would criticize her (The small ad at the outset is the price to pay here...) Notably, she's saying - yet again - that there are no plans to leave after the election, and when she says it, she's convincing. But...when Babs Walters asked her about her intention of staying the full length and breadth of her contract - the right question, by the way, from a pro - then Katie is actually thrown for a loop. Well...she shoots her eyes over Babs' head, searches for words, and otherwise offers a book full of body language that pretty much says, "no, I'm not..." These are interesting times for Ms. C: Her show's good, she's good, and if you didn't read the press (virtually non-existent these days save for a "Page Six" brief earlier this week which noted that she won't leave because CBS won't pay out her contract - exactly what YOUR'S TRULY has been reporting for MONTHS) you'd think everything was peachy. But I imagine it's not. This is Katie, after all. She's not happy, and that's just the way it is...Nevertheless, I'm beginning to believe her on this point - she's not going anywhere soon, and there's no compelling reason why she should.