“The First Woman Anchor Had Not Changed The Evening News’ Numbers One Way Or Another”

Katie Couric is one of 27 “People Who Mattered” in Time’s Person of the Year issue. But James Poniewozik‘s blurb doesn’t make her sound very important:

“Hype and arrows aside, her program was a fairly standard newscast, treating largely the same stories and facing the same challenges as its rivals — namely, getting today’s busy people to sit for the news at 6:30.

As it turned out, the newscasts finished November sweeps in the same order they had before Couric — NBC first, ABC second, CBS third — with each network’s ratings slightly down over the year, continuing a long-standing trend. The first woman anchor had not much changed the evening news’ numbers one way or another. Which, in the TV business, is perhaps the most meaningful kind of equality there is.”