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As Katie Couric gets set to take over for Bob Schieffer on the Evening News, CBS spokespeople have touted their ability to launch the new anchor without a "fancy slogan". This lack of a catchy slogan, however, does not imply an absent public relations campaign. CBS has launched an ad blitz that would cost over $10 million dollars if they had to pay for the advertising media buys, although it is not the case because much of the ads appear in CBS-owned media.
But will the relatively young anchor, mostly known for her fluffy reporting on The Today Show, be able to compete with the typical middle-aged men on the other two networks? Currently CBS is third in the evening news rankings, with NBC's Brian Williams leading the pack and ABC's Charles Gibson at least 800,000 viewers behind. CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer has lagged behind NBC Nightly News by 1.5 million viewers.
Katie Couric represents modernity and a welcome change from the cookie-cutter anchors of the past, but being a woman may prove a difficult obstacle in an evening news setting dominated by men. Former ABC World News Tonight anchor Elizabeth Vargas was removed from the anchor chair a few months ago... some say because of sexism, others because she was pregnant. Regardless, being a female played a critical role in both her arrival and departure on World News Tonight. Is America still hesitant to accept a female anchor?
Couric's gender also has the potential to play a role in her success. Many people would find it difficult to find a distinguishing characteristic between Charles Gibson and Brian Williams... or Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather for that matter. Couric's stark contrast to other newscasters, in both approach and appearance, could help bring the trailing CBS Evening News back to the top again.
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