Katie Couric’s CBS Debut a Ratings Hit
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James Joyner | Thursday, September 7, 2006 |
While the critics were less than impressed, the curiosity factor gave Katie Couric huge numbers in her opening night.
[The] debut of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric attracted 13.59 million total viewers, finishing number one for the night and easily beating NBC Nightly News (7.76 million viewers) and ABC’s World News (7.58 million viewers) in the process. The 13.59 million total viewers are the most for the broadcast since Feb. 16, 1998, which occurred during CBS’s coverage of the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano.”
Indeed, Couric attracted nearly as many viewers as her competitors combined. Certainly, that won’t last. Time will tell, though, whether she provides a significant long-term boost to the ratings.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Indeed. The pre-broadcast hype pretty much guarranteed these ratings; ergo they are meaningless. The key will be whether a significant fraction of those people will actually tune in for a second or third helping of "infotainment".
I think everyone tuned in just to get the first look at Suri Cruise!
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