MORNING GLORY: CBS has been courting Katie Couric to be its new anchor; the network is reportedly prepared to spend $12 million or more a year to lure her away from her job as co-host of NBC’s “Today.” But if Couric’s bargaining power is based on her personal appeal, it may not be as solid as it looks. An ongoing survey of more than 6,000 respondents shows Couric’s likability scores slipping over the past 18 months, while her rivals’ have held steady or improved.
The survey was conducted by Genius Insight, a New York-based marketing and research firm that tracks public perceptions of more than 2,000 celebrities and publishes the findings in its quarterly StarPower report. The summer 2004 study measured Couric’s likability rating at 61, a number calculated from five possible responses ranging from “do not like at all” to “like a lot.” That figure wavered only slightly over the next three quarters, dipping to 59 that fall and winter and inching up to 60 in the spring. But summer 2005 brought a wave of negative publicity, including, most notably, Alessandra Stanley‘s description of Couric in the The New York Times as a “mercurial diva.” Couric’s likability rating plummeted to 55, where it stayed through the autumn. Meanwhile, fellow-morning personalities Diane Sawyer, Matt Lauer and Julie Chen all were rated as more likable in 2005 than 2004. Sawyer, co-host of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” led the pack with a rating of 62 in both 2004 and 2005, while Chen of the CBS “Early Show” notched the biggest gain, climbing to 59 last year from 55 in 2004.
Network news analyst Andrew Tyndall said he was not surprised to hear positive public perception of Couric has slipped: “The conventional wisdom inside the industry is that she’s not as popular as she was at her peak.” But Tyndall did not think Couric, or anyone else, deserved blame for the slide. “The way I look at it is, when she was at her peak of popularity, she was at an unsustainable high, and no one could have maintained that level. She’s declined from astronomical to merely excellent.”
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Spokeswomen for CBS News and NBC News declined comment, but Tyndall said he did not think a drop in likability would significantly affect Couric’s negotiations with CBS. “In the decision CBS has to make about hiring her for the evening news, there’s an enormous number of other risks involved,” he said. “There are questions of competence and believability, which far outstrip the question of popularity.” – Jeff Bercovici
OK STOOPS TO CONQUER: Since its August launch, executives from OK magazine have insisted the new celebrity weekly is selling well, meeting its rate base and generally taking the U.S. by storm. But the company’s actions tell a different story. According to a source in the circulation sector, OK plans to cut its newsstand price to $1.99 next month from $3.29. The change, scheduled to take effect with the issue that goes on sale Feb. 10, will bring its price in line with In Touch and Life & Style, while making it significantly cheaper than People ($3.99), Us Weekly ($3.49) and Star ($3.49). OK also has reduced its national newsstand print order, previously reported to be set at 1.3 million, by approximately 20 percent, according to the source. The magazine has claimed to be selling between 250,000 and 275,000 copies a week on the newsstand, although competing publishers dispute those figures. Representatives of OK did not respond to calls for comment Tuesday, but neither development seems a positive sign. – J.B.
SUBERBIELLE BIDS ADIEU: Condé Nast France on Tuesday said Didier Suberbielle, its president of the last three years, would resign to run a dietetic business near his hometown of Toulouse. Suberbielle said he would become a key shareholder in Nutrition & Sante, which had sales of some 250 million euros, or $295 million, last year. “It is difficult to leave Condé Nast,” he said. “The company and people are fantastic. But this was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”
Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Condé Nast International, said he expects to name a successor within the next month or so. “Certainly we’ll look most closely for people with a background in publishing, but it’s possible that we’ll go beyond [publishing],” Newhouse said.
Suberbielle is a former executive at champagne house Pommery who had no previous magazine experience, but Newhouse said his tenure had been a “success,” defined by the launch last year of French Glamour and growing business at French Vogue, edited by Carine Roitfeld.
“Didier did a superb job,” said Newhouse. “With the launch of French Glamour, revenues of the company virtually have doubled. Fortunes at Condé Nast France are better than they have been in 15 to 20 years.” Newhouse said momentum continued to build last year, headlined by a 9 percent gain in advertising revenue at French Vogue and a solid performance at the Internet division. But investments in Glamour pushed the company into the red last year. “The company will perform at profitability in 2006,” Newhouse predicted.
Condé Nast France also publishes AD (the French version of Architectural Digest), Vogue Hommes International and Air France Madame magazine. It is a division of Condé Nast Publications, which owns WWD.
Suberbielle will remain in his job through Feb. 15.
– Robert Murphy
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