Couric ready to just sit down, do the news

updated 1:40 p.m. ET Aug. 27, 2006

NEW YORK - After months of preparation and promotion, after all the words written about Katie Couric's new job as "CBS Evening News" anchor, she'd like nothing more now than to just sit down and report the news.

That will finally happen on Sept. 5, when Couric tells the day's top story from the set in a rebuilt newsroom on Manhattan's West Side.

"It's been very invigorating just to take a step back and talk about approaches and things we could do differently and things we might be able to try," she said. "Obviously, I'm excited to put theory to practice and see what works and what doesn't and just actually be doing the job itself instead of talking about it."

Couric's decision to leave NBC's "Today" show after 15 years had a remarkable domino effect on the television industry, and the implications will first be felt next month.

NBC waited only a day after Couric publicly announced her exit to pick Meredith Vieira from "The View" to join the "Today" cast. With its own hole to fill, "The View" selected Rosie O'Donnell to take Vieira's place as its moderator. Vieira starts Sept. 13 and O'Donnell debuts on Sept. 5.

Fortunes are at stake, depending on how viewers accept these changes. The top-rated "Today" show — television's most profitable program — earned $274 million in revenue during the first five months of 2006, a full $100 million more than second-place "Good Morning America," according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

The numbers aren't as big at night, partly because the evening news shows are only 30 minutes long. But "CBS Evening News" still earned $81 million this year through May, with ratings leader "Nightly News" collecting $88 million, Nielsen said.

The new face of a bruised news division
Couric is becoming the public face of a news division that has ranked third in the ratings for years and was bruised by the tumultuous exit of Dan Rather.

Pressure, anybody?

"I think maybe the expectations are ginned up by the media itself," Couric told The Associated Press. "The people at home, those who are interested in seeing what CBS News does, will watch. I never felt that I was hired to, quote-unquote, save the network."

She said she has realistic expectations, "and I think most people around the country really aren't thinking about it all that much, to be honest."

Her ascension caps a remarkable two-year period of instability for the evening newscasts, beginning with Tom Brokaw's retirement at NBC "Nightly News." Peter Jennings died of lung cancer and the Elizabeth Vargas-Bob Woodruff team that replaced him at ABC's "World News" was derailed after Woodruff was injured in Iraq. Bob Schieffer has filled in as CBS anchor since Rather left in March 2005.

Now with Brian Williams in place at NBC, Charles Gibson at ABC and Couric, the networks have the anchors they hope will be in place for several years.

"All of the broadcasts are now in a position to move full steam ahead," said Jon Banner, executive producer of ABC's "World News." "From a competitive standpoint, that's terrific. When your competition plays better, you play better."

The moves of Gibson and Couric from morning news to evening adds stature to newscasts that have been the subject of countless premature obituaries, he said.

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