Tweaking the News

One emerging hallmark of the newscast is that Couric, who honed her interviewing skills during 15 years at "Today," has been spending more time chatting up newsmakers and analysts, along with her own correspondents. On Iraq, for instance, Couric has spoken with the likes of Rep. Jack Murtha, Sen. Carl Levin, retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman. During the campaign, she periodically hosted former Clinton White House spokesman Mike McCurry and former Bush White House spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace, segments that seemed little different from what is routinely on cable news.

Couric's longest interview, which drew the most flak within CBS, was a discussion with Michael J. Fox. She spoke to the actor after Rush Limbaugh accused him of exaggerating his Parkinson's symptoms during commercials for Democratic candidates who support stem cell research. Some CBS staffers were upset that she devoted nine minutes, or nearly half the newscast, to the subject. Couric made sure to disclose that she has contributed to Fox's foundation, and that her father suffers from Parkinson's.

"People can grouse about it," Couric says of the interview, "but it was distinguishing television."

She is aggravated by some of the pundit potshots about the broadcast's news quotient. "I just think we got an unfair rap, and unfortunately it was perpetrated by people who didn't take the time to watch the show," Couric says.

All the newscasts play up health care, but the subject has been particularly prominent on CBS, often featuring a physician, Jon LaPook, whom Couric helped recruit as medical correspondent. She reports some of these segments as well, including pieces about back pain and hormone replacement therapy. These and other stories and interviews have reduced the airtime of some frustrated correspondents, making Couric the unquestioned star of the show.

"Time is our enemy in this particular format," she says. "It's really a constant struggle to figure out what goes and what stays."

There is also, undeniably, the X factor: Couric's role as the first female anchor to fly solo on a network newscast, and her informal, "Hi, everyone" tone. That has its fans and its detractors.

Erik Sorenson, a former "Evening News" producer, says Couric is "a bit of a lightning rod" but that CBS executives "should be applauded for trying a lot of things." The question, he says, is "are they going to succumb [to criticism], and in three months we're going to look up and they're doing the same newscast as Dan Rather was three years ago?"

In the closely watched ratings race, Couric quickly faded after winning her first two weeks. For the week of Nov. 20, "NBC Nightly News" drew 9.46 million viewers, ABC's "World News" 8.48 million and Couric's broadcast 7.96 million. That represented a modest rebound from Couric's low mark of 7.74 million two weeks earlier.

But while the staff is conflicted over the uneven start, McManus's message remains upbeat. He says the program, excluding those atypical first two weeks, is up 11 percent over last year in the 25-to-54 group prized by advertisers.

"It's bringing in enough to pay for Katie's salary," he says. "I couldn't be happier with the job she is doing, knowing she is under more scrutiny than probably any other person in television history."