In a story in the LA Times last week, Matea Gold shed a spotlight on Katie Couric’s YouTube channel - apparently until then a somewhat stealth operation where the CBS News anchor has uploaded ”behind the scenes” bits highlighting her playful side. You remember the less-serious Katie from the Today Show? Well, she’s baa-aack…in 33 videos (and counting).
A few examples: We see Katie prepping for an interview with John McCain and his 96-year-old mom; doing the early morning show rounds with the other network anchors to promote the collaborative “Stand Up 2 Cancer” initiative; meeting up with some mommy bloggers; and (my personal favorite) singing “Downtown” with Bette Midler. Lots of self-depracating humor, a couple of eye rolls, a few giggles…you get the picture. It ain’t Walter Cronkite, that’s for sure.
But Cronkite’s era is long gone, and these distracted, cynical times call for some alternative approaches to (re)gaining public acceptance. It’s no secret that Katie is stuggling mightily in the anchor seat (not that it’s anyone’s fault, particularly), and that she and CBS are trying to figure out a respectable way out of the quagmire. What is intresting is that most of the viewer comments coming out of her YouTube gig are very, very positive. If a fraction of these people watched the CBS Evening News, things wouldn’t be so dire over there. But that Katie is decidedly not the one they want to watch.
If this was largely Katie’s idea, as reported, it’s a darn good one. Remind people of the other, more fun, more popular “old” Katie as the search for the next opportunity gets underway. But don’t be too blatantly promotional lest it look self-serving or desperate.
Absent some tabloid fodder about her off-camera tantrums and battles with Today Show co-anchor Matt Lauer, “Old Katie” had a good thing going with her public, and “New Katie” never really took hold. She has a rare opportunity here not to reinvent but merely to revive. Changing a public persona is risky business, particularly concerning credibility issues, but bringing “Old Katie” back from suspended animation before pulling the plug entirey on “New Katie” is one smart proposition and will likely serve her well as she and her agent ponder her next move.
