So, now it's official: Katie Couric is leaving "Today" to join CBS News. And the world will not end. Nor will NBC's morning juggernaut. Everyone will still make plenty of money, CBS will gain a
short-term burst of publicity, and viewers will not change their habits overnight. So says Paul La Monica, who covers media for CNNMoney.com. Citing a number of industry observers, and coupling their
thoughts with his own observations, he points out that all the hoopla about Katie Couric's departure from NBC has been way, way overblown. Big media loves stories such as this one, he notes, but
that's not to say the story itself is meritorious. Aside from the headlines generated for several weeks, there is likely to be no significant shift in advertising or ratings as a result of Couric's
move, at least not in the near term. "I don't think Katie's going to be that big of a loss to NBC. They've rotated through enough hosts and hostesses," says Gary Carr, senior vice president and
director of national broadcast with TargetCast tcm, a media buying firm. "It's not going to be a disaster. They've weathered stuff like this before." Kris Magel, senior vice president and national
broadcast account director with ZenithOptimedia, says, "I'd hope that NBC has a strategy. They've known about this issue for some time so they should plan to have a successor to Katie that's going to
resonate with viewers the same way that she has over past few years." The successor to Couric, widely believed to be Meredith Vieira, could be announced as early as today, sources say
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