McManus: “Close Competition For 1st Place Shows Just How Far We’ve Come…”

In this afternoon’s CBS press release about Katie Couric‘s Monday ratings, CBS News president Sean McManus continues managing expectations:

“As I’ve said repeatedly and from day one, our focus is on the long-term developments, not the short term. However, given that is was a somewhat atypical night of viewing, to be in this close competition for first place shows how far we’ve come in just one week.”

Atypical night of viewing? “There was some inter-network squabbling over whether the night represented a typical night of television,” Variety says. “One might expect strong news audiences on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, but others argued that auds were impacted by President Bush’s speech on the West Coast, and the first Monday night NFL games of the season.”

> Also: Here’s one e-mailer’s theory: “Couric’s evening newscast will be viewed regularly during average news cycles because of its lighter content, but when it really matters, people will flock back to the newscast that breathes hard news.”