Katie Couric Talk Show Being Canceled?
Katie Couric may be canceled next season according to The Hollywood Reporter in an article published Wednesday.
Sources told the publication that the two year old talk show may be canceled. The fledging chat fest has been plagued by soft ratings, a large budget and internal fighting. Stations are contracted to air Katie through the summer of 2014 but renewal for a third season by Disney/ABCTV seemed unlikely.
The show originally had a budget of $50 million which has been brought down to $35. However, many stations have complained that there has not been enough investment on the hype. The insider added that there has been far too much infighting to making the effort of continuing with the show not worth it.
"They certainly anticipated the show would be doing better than it's doing," said 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."
Another insider said that Couric was refusing to soften the tone of her talk show. She has had difficulty appealing to daytime's key 25-to-54-year-old female demo. She has preferred more hard hitting stories such as race.
"She has a complete and utter disdain for the audience she needs to appeal to," said 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 denied the claim and offered another rationale.
"It is because of Katie's great respect for her audience that she introduces fresh perspectives and substantive material into the show," the source said.