It's been a rough start for Charles Gibson at ABC as the networks' evening news program cratered to its lowest rating ever in his second week on the job, reports MediaLife. It averaged a tad over 7
million viewers--800,000 fewer than No. 1 "NBC Nightly News"--and an 11 percent slump from year-ago levels. And that bad news comes just a month after the broadcast finished behind CBS's "Evening
News" for the first time in nearly five years. While his numbers will likely improve as he is given the chance to win over viewers, the real test will come in the fall when Katie Couric becomes CBS's
new evening anchor, replacing Bob Schieffer. "The risk is that if Gibson can't hold his own against Couric, the ABC newscast won't just sputter, but actually sink," MediaLife says. And that is a very
real possibility, adds one industry watcher. "I don't think Gibson is as compelling as Couric is to make ratings go up," says Rich Hanley, an assistant journalism professor at Quinnipiac University.
"He's terrific--no harm on him, but he doesn't have the ability to make an audience turn away from someone else to watch him."
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at MediaLife »
