Network Anchor Revolution

Britney Spears has received entirely too much coverage from the media lately. Between her divorce from ex-husband Kevin Federline (Britney's 2nd divorce following her 1st divorce to Jason Alexander, not to be confused with the actor of the same name on Seinfeld and KCF commercials), her refusal to wear panties and other women's undergarments, or her alleged partying exploits with the unsavoury likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, haven't we seen and heard just about enough about Britney.

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There really isn't much at stake with CBS stealing Katie Couric from NBC's Today Show and handing her the CBS Evening News anchor chair.

Network television news is wasting away, the deterioration sped up by the triple whammy suffered by NBC (Tom Browkaw retiring), ABC (Peter Jennings dying) and CBS (Dan Rather stepping down under cloud of scandal).

But Couric's presence on the evening news will not save the vanishing franchise. And it's not cable news -- with the possible exception of Fox News -- that will have any more additional wallop as the years go by, it's the Internet that will swallow up huge viewing and listening markets by the millions.

No, Katie can't fight us -- bloggers. Millions upon millions of bloggers, invading micromarkets and selling niche product lines of all stripes in the months and years to come.

As for a woman occupying a major network anchor desk, there will be a curiosity factor which should lead to a modest ratings increase, but when grim news has to be reported, the bubbly Couric won't be able to carry that freight. The public's comfort zone is limited vis-a-vis unpleasant news stories and polite ladies reporting that side of the news.

CNN is paying the price for its overabundance of female anchors that simply can't draw ratings of any kind. Ditto for MSNBC, another microscopic presence in broadcast ratings despite Bill Gates' big-bucks backing.

Good luck, Katie. Watch your back when you travel to the Middle East for the first time.

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