Couric and CBS deny any trouble

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — If I were a betting man, I would have lost money when the folks from CBS News appeared (via satellite) in front of members of the Television Critics Association.

I guessed that it would be the third question before Katie Couric's job security came up. My TV critic pals guessed somewhere between second and sixth.

We were all wrong. The first question out of a critic's mouth essentially boiled down to, "So, Katie, are you about to get fired?"

It was phrased more nicely than that: "Do you ever marvel at the amount of attention you get, the speculation, and could you help us clear up the speculation? I mean, what are your thoughts about your job these days?"

"Well ... glad you got right to that," Couric responded.

Even someone as cynical and negative as yours truly was a little surprised how quickly that came up.

Couric pointed out, rightfully, that the intensity of the media speculation about her job future has "died down considerably." Perhaps because news of her imminent dethroning from the "CBS Evening News" anchor chair didn't come to pass.

But given that the show lags in third place in the nightly news competition, there's still speculation that Couric will exit CBS after the presidential inauguration in January.

CBS News president Sean McManus flatly denied any such reports.

"I can say, and I have said, that it's not true," he said.

And Couric echoed his comments, rebutting reports that she's unhappy at CBS and plans to leave the network.

"We have no plans to part company anytime soon," she said. "And there were a lot of speculative pieces that I think got, quite frankly, spun out of control. We always assess how the show is doing and what direction we want to go in.

"And so, clearly, when you work for an organization, you have ongoing discussions. But I'm very committed to the people here and very committed to the product, and so I can say that's not true, either."

Which sound a little more iffy than her flat denial that she's thinking of leaving. But McManus stated categorically that Couric leaving the network is "not a discussion at CBS, either corporately or at CBS News."

Couric rather gently chided all of us who write about it.

"I can't really control what media writers write," she said. "I think sometimes we live in a bit of an echo chamber that probably the people in your room and obviously the people here are more fascinated by things along these lines than anyone else in the real world.

"So it's befuddling to me, the amount of attention I have received."