• by Ed Martin , June 10, 2011

Katie Couric certainly has her work cut out for her during the year ahead. Launching a new daytime talk show is a difficult enough task under the best of circumstances. To do so on a network at a time when its popular daytime schedule is literally being torn asunder and pieced back together seems like an almost insurmountable challenge.

To be more specific, Couric's new syndicated daytime talk show, which was announced earlier this week and will be produced in conjunction with Disney/ABC, will be arriving on many ABC stations in September 2012 following the losses of syndication superstars Oprah Winfrey and Regis Philbin and the cancellations of two long-cherished network-owned soap operas, "All My Children" and "One Life to Live." While the end of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last month and the departure in November of Regis Philbin from "Live with Regis and Kelly" have nothing to do with ABC, the decisions to end "AMC" in September and "OLTL" in January were made by the network itself.

Without Winfrey and Philbin in play ABC will certainly lose viewers during the daytime, but there is little that can be done about that. Their departures may sadden people, but they won't generate animosity toward the network that was their primary home for decades. The controversial cancellations of "AMC" and "OLTL," on the other hand, have disappointed millions of people. Many of them aren't just upset. They're enraged, and they aren't likely to be appeased, let alone engaged, by the two reality series (a cooking show and a weight loss/makeover show) with which ABC intends to replace those beloved scripted franchises.

In addition, Couric's new show is slated for the 3 p.m. time period that has been occupied by "General Hospital" since the '60s. With ABC handing that slot back to its affiliates and Couric's new show taking up residence there, the possibility certainly exists that ABC's only surviving soap will be canceled, and if that happens it's going to look like it's being killed to make room for Katie. Her arrival has nothing to do with its likely departure, but soap fans in general, who are already justifiably worked up about what ABC has done, and "GH" viewers in particular, who are arguably the most vocal soap opera fans of all, are going to connect the two anyway. If "GH" dies as Couric's show is launched, much of the available audience is going to turn downright hostile.

Not that she can do anything about it at this point, but is this really the kind of messy environment into which Couric wants to descend, coming off a nearly five-year stint as the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" that didn't go over exactly as planned? I certainly wish her well, but Couric and her executive producer Jeff Zucker are going to have to do some fancy dancing if they are to succeed. I'm not sure what they can do to so dazzle the daytime audience that all of the sadness and animosity over recent and recently announced changes at ABC will be forgiven. (CBS and NBC have contributed to this overriding outrage too, killing off a number of popular soap operas and replacing them with such unremarkable stuff as "The Talk" and repeats of Bravo's "Real Housewives" franchises.) I trust Couric and Zucker will be able to make use of ABC's studio in Times Square, providing an exciting backdrop for yet another hour of talk. That panoramic second-floor view will at least give viewers something to look at that they aren't used to seeing on afternoon television. Overall, I can certainly see Couric working wonders for ABC News, which she has joined as part of her deal with Disney, bringing new life and new viewers to what's left of "Nightline" and contributing reports to "ABC World News" and "Good Morning America." But moving into a day-part that her new employer has been slowly destroying is another matter.

I have no firsthand information about Couric's negotiations with ABC or anyplace else, but I can't help but think that she would have been a much better fit at CNN, a news network that isn't nearly as commanding as it used to be and is in desperate need of a dynamic hour of daily television hosted by a vital news personality. CNN has intellect to spare, but it would benefit enormously from an infusion of infectious energy. Wouldn't Couric have been outstanding in that capacity?