Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

With all the hype and hoopla lately about Snakes on a Plane, and the disappointing numbers that were far below expectations after all that hype, it made me think about the same strategy being used to promote Katie Couric. It's possible that it may even be too much hype for too long. It seems already that some of the air is coming out of this balloon.

This isn't a cut on Couric or her personality or quality; but she's coming into the wrong place at the wrong time - nothing she can do will change that.

For example, since 1981, viewers of the nightly news have plummeted by almost 50%, or the equivalent of 25 million viewers. Nothing will alter that trend. Some of the reason is the other cable competition like Fox News and CNN (TWX), along with the increasing popularity of those who use the Internet as the medium of choice.

After the initial novelty of watching Couric read the news, what could possibly be the motivating factor that will change the way news media is now being consumed?

One thing that will probably make this look a little better than it is, would be that CBS (CBS) has been doing poorly for so long, that they have nowhere to go but up. They will have to use this fact to justify their $15 million yearly salary awarded to Couric. After all, last year the CBS Evening News only brought in around $169 million in ad revenue.

The other down side to this is that young people have shown that they have no interest at all in Couric or her tenure at CBS; they are consuming news media completely differently.

This brings the question up of where will growth come from then? Will morning fans, if that's what they were, navigate to the evening news instead? I don't think so. 

While there may be some upside because of the terrible past performance of CBS Evening news, it doesn't seem that there will really be any hope for the type of results hyped and hoped for by the channel. This just may end up being Katie on the Plane.