Katie Couric won't be altering her look. She won't be going off to war merely to read the news while "standing somewhere in a flak jacket." And most of all, she isn't expecting any big "surge" in ratings for CBS Evening News With Katie Couric this fall.
As the network's promotional blitz for its new $60 million anchorwoman kicks into high gear, Couric, who will debut in her new role Sept. 5, yesterday launched a counter-campaign of sorts, ratcheting down expectations and softening the drumbeat of hype.
Though Couric and executive producer Rome Hartman seemed in accord yesterday during a telephone news conference, Couric adeptly tamped down some of the buzz that has surrounded her since she stepped down in May as co-anchor of NBC's Today show. She also tried to lower public expectations about her new role at CBS.
Though the network, for example, is airing promotional ads across the country showing a somber Couric in business suit and pearls, the 49-year-old journalist stressed that viewers will not be witnessing a makeover from the Couric they saw on Today.
"I'm going to pretty much look the same way, unfortunately, that I have always looked," Couric said. "I have no plans to get a crew cut or shop at Brooks Brothers or whatever. I take pride in the fact that I always tried to dress appropriately for the Today show, which has a little more leeway. But I'm going to wear things that I think are attractive and not too distracting. Hopefully, I'll have good hygiene and look professional."
CBS, currently in third place behind top-ranked NBC and runner-up ABC, hopes to lure young viewers by promising a strong online presence for Couric, including a daily Web cast and a blog. She is also expected to be involved in the network's daily radio newscast.
When ABC launched its now-abandoned version of World News Tonight with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas in January, network News President David Westin presented them as new anchors "for the digital age" based on their Web presence. But some analysts wondered at the time how any anchor could find enough hours in a day to do all the blogging and Web casting promised. (Before the two journalists could establish themselves in the co-anchor roles, Woodruff was injured in Iraq and Vargas took maternity leave.)
