Couric's ready to 'start doing the job'

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PASADENA, Calif. -- Even Katie Couric, no stranger to celebrity, is surprised at all the media hoopla over her move to anchor of The CBS Evening News Sept. 5.

Do viewers care? "I don't think they're nearly as interested as you all are," she told a crowd of TV critics here Sunday. "I'm really excited to stop talking about this and start doing the job."

But the promotional campaign for the former Today anchor is only beginning. In the midst of a six-city blitz of "town meetings" that wraps up today in San Francisco, Couric says "the whole week was extremely instructional" and "will inform the way we approach the news come September."

Viewers told her they want more perspective and "a better understanding of the ramifications of the news," she says. "I got the distinct sense they want us to go a little bit deeper" with historical background and "how this is relevant to their lives. (And) we heard from many people the news is just too depressing. Obviously, we can't sugarcoat what's going on, but there are cases where we can be more solution-oriented."

She says some thought the media portrayed a "polarizing of the country that they don't see" and thought TV news "abdicated its role, talking about facts and information rather than points of view." She says people want "more thinking, less spewing."

Despite pre-Katie promises of an evening news overhaul, don't look for radical changes, which could prove "too jarring" and turn off loyal, often older news viewers, CBS News president Sean McManus says. (Couric's newscast will also go multiplatform, with Web video, a blog, podcasting and radio simulcasts.)

CBS' first goal is to gain a larger share of news viewers: Under Bob Schieffer, Evening News already has done so, adding 300,000 this year, the only network newscast to increase its audience. Still, CBS remains a distant third, and "paltry" lead-ins from weaker local stations may make gains hard to come by, he says.

CBS chairman Leslie Moonves says it will take at least six months to judge whether his investment in the $15 million woman will pay off. But in some ways it already has, overshadowing the usual new crop of fall shows:

"No matter what you say, this is the biggest event of the fall."

Schieffer, who wanted out of the anchor chair, isn't going away: McManus says he'll appear several times a week as a Washington analyst and will do a weekly commentary.

But it was Couric's day to shine. The only time she bristled was when a critic asked what she planned to wear in the anchor chair. "You're kidding, right?" she said. The future anchor, clad in an ivory pantsuit, joked, "I've actually gone to Charlie Gibson's stylist."

To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com