Katie Couric Deathwatch Update

The ticks are getting louder and louder ...

There was a meeting ...

Things were discussed ... Denials of things discussed ...

A wide-ranging discussion in February about Katie Couric’s future as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” threatened on Thursday to turn her into a virtual lame duck in the job.

“She’s not a definite lame duck,” a senior executive who has been close to the situation said. “Nothing is decided.”

But the audience levels have been, by any measure, disappointing. For the season the CBS newscast, already a distant third, has lost about 11 percent of its viewers.

The executives involved in the discussions about Ms. Couric’s future emphasized that she would not be leaving the job in the short term. But one of her close associates said, “If you ask me, will she fulfill her contract with CBS, that I doubt.”

There's finger pointing;

So who killed her? Because don't think for one second that the person who leaked the news of the meeting didn't know that that was exactly what he or she was doing.

Odds are, it was one of the two CBS execs, probably Sean (McManus). CBS doesn't want to acknowledge that one of the main problems with the CBS Evening News is that "evening news" shows are obsolete, so it has to blame Katie (who, it is true, was more beloved in her morning slot). CBS also, however, doesn't want to be seen as cutting and running on the nation's first solo woman anchor, especially after it paid so much to get her there.

So how best for CBS to ditch Katie? Make it look like they had no choice. Or, rather, make it look like leaving the anchor slot might have been Katie's choice. ("We tried to talk her out of it, but she decided that [INSERT NEW JOB HERE] was a better fit"). Odds are this is what happened: CBS just killed Katie.

With the network evening news being touted as going the way of the rotary telephone, does a bigger stigma get itself attached to Katie?

Does Katie Couric end up with being the one that kills the legendary, vaunted CBS Evening News?

Holy rickety rabbit ears, Batman! ... Will we ever get a clear picture on this?

Stay tuned ...