With Katie Couric The Ratings Speak For Themselves

Here's the deal. Last time I checked Katie Couric was a grown-ass woman (and she sure as hell gets paid like one). And when you're cashing huge paychecks every 1st and 15th of the month that Couric does, the people who hired you have a right to expect and demand results. And so far in her gig as CBS anchorwoman Katie Couric has failed miserably in getting results, so much so it's literally become embarrassing. Those are the facts. It's not about being sexist. It's about a company paying an employee a shitload of money and getting little to nothing in return--Business 101 could tell you what a bad move that is. And we all know that if she didn't happen to be named Katie Couric, CBS wouldn't be trying to come up with lame excuses in defense of her. So mind you, despite the fact that I can't stand Dan Rather, but he's totally on point here:

After initial excitement about Couric's move from her spot as co-host of NBC's "Today" show to the nightly news, the broadcast quickly slipped again to trail its competitors.

Talking via phone to Joe Scarborough on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Rather described Couric as a "nice person" - then let her have it.

Speculating on the program's declining ratings, Rather said, "The mistake was to try to bring the 'Today' show ethos to the 'Evening News' and to dumb it down - tart it up in hopes of attracting a younger audience."

Then in a kinder vein, he said Couric "tried to change networks, which is always difficult, and change the programs at the same time." Then he opened fire again.

He said the program "trend line" continues to lean toward excessive and overdone celebrity coverage.