Soft ratings, a huge budget and "disdain" for her female audience — Q Scores report only 10 percent of women view Couric favorably — have the host's Disney/ABC talk show in jeopardy as a renewal decision nears.
One of the TV's priciest daytime experiments soon could be coming to an end. Stations throughout the U.S. are contracted to carry Katie Couric's syndicated talk show through summer 2014, but the decision on whether Katie will score a third season likely will be made this month -- and renewal seems a long shot.
In fall 2012, Disney/ABC TV rolled out the red carpet for Couric, 56, giving her plum time slots on the best stations, fat license fees and loads of promotion. The initial annual budget was $50 million, according to a show source -- including $20 million for Couric over two years. (That budget has been brought down to $35 million. Similar talk shows cost about $20 million a year.) But station owners now complain the daily strip hasn't lived up to the hype, and several insiders tell THR that internal discord has become nearly unbearable.
"They certainly anticipated the show would be doing better than it's doing," says Bill Carroll, director of programming at Katz Media Group. "Based on what they paid for the show and the time periods they put it in, and the promises that were made, it just hasn't happened."
Disney/ABC projected the reteaming of Couric with her Today executive producer Jeff Zucker would average a 2.5 household rating, which would have made Katie one of the biggest syndicated launches. Instead, it averaged a 1.7 during its first season and a 1.8 so far this season. (A Couric spokesman insists she never approved the 2.5 projection.)
And from the start, turnover has plagued the show. Zucker decamped for CNN about halfway through the first season, followed by co-executive producer Michael Bass. Michael Morrison assumed Zucker's role but was replaced in May by Rachel Miskowiec, a former EP of The Tyra Banks Show. Co-EPs Kathy Samuels and Ethan Nelson then left in what was called a cost-cutting move. Director Joe Terry also decamped.
Katie insiders say the problem is that Couric has refused to shape shows with softer features to appeal to daytime's key 25-to-54-year-old female demo, insisting instead on the kind of harder-edged interviews she enjoyed on Today and her stint as anchor of CBS Evening News.
"She has a complete and utter disdain for the audience she needs to appeal to," says one former employee. "In her mind, the Today show was [the model] -- professional women getting ready for work. Anyone home after 9 o'clock are people she has no interest in appealing to. But she also loved the $20 million paycheck." A source close to Couric dismisses that characterization and says, "It is because of Katie's great respect for her audience that she introduces fresh perspectives and substantive material into the show." read more @
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