Couric Gets Simulcasted

There are no good excuses left for missing the evening news.

CBS announced Thursday that the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric will stream live online to coincide with the show's regular TV broadcast, becoming the first network newscast to do so and adding yet another option to the ever-expanding list of ways that people can access their news and entertainment. Couric steps into the anchor's chair Sept. 5.

After the initial broadcast/Webcast, individual segments and the complete newscast will be available on demand from CBSNews.com. All is advertiser-supported and free for registered users.

"This is a groundbreaking development in making the program available to the largest possible audience," Sean McManus, president of CBS News, said in a statement. "For people who can't be in front of their televisions when the Evening News is on, they can now watch the program live on their computers. It's another giant step toward providing CBS News content to people wherever they are--in their homes, in their offices, in their cars, on their computers or on their cell phones."

First, it's your computers. Next, the world...

While CBS is the only network so far to engage in a live simulcast, the NBC Nightly News with anchor Brian Williams is also available to be accessed in its entirety on the Web at your leisure, after the traditional broadcast is over. The Peacock Network features The Daily Nightly, as well, a blog detailing the day's newsgathering. ABC News also offers a blog and a 15-minute daily Webcast called World News.

As CBS News prepares the Evening News throne for Couric, whom the network is hoping will appeal to younger demographics and boost the newscast's chronic third-place status, CBS is taking the opportunity to expand all of its online offerings, again with the idea of attracting those Internet-savvy youngsters in mind.

At least CBS has nowhere to go but up, in terms of news. Last week the network newscast averaged 6.9 million viewers, while ABC attracted 7.5 million and NBC maintained its hold on the number-one spot with 8.1 million, per Nielsen Media Research.

The online component of CBS News will also include a frequently updated blog similar to NBC's Daily Nightly called Couric & Company, which will be open to user comments; Eye to Eye, featuring extended versions of the interviews conducted by Couric and fellow reporters; CBS News First Look with Katie Couric, a pre-broadcast rundown of what may end up on the evening newscast; and a one-minute, more in-depth look at a top story or issue called Katie Couric's Notebook.

Both Eye to Eye and Katie Couric's Notebook will also be made available as audio and video podcasts from Apple's iTunes Music Store.

It sounds as if people are going to have to start figuring out when to not watch news.

"Technology has become an integral part of everyday life for most people, and it's dramatically changed the way they consume news, so this is a fantastic development," Couric, obviously unfazed by what sound like 26-hour work days, said in a statement. "It's another example of how we intend to use our Website to complement our broadcast--and, most importantly, to benefit our viewers."

Couric kept busy this summer, too, visiting six cities and holding town hall-style meetings to question people about what they'd like to see more of and what they hoped to get out their TV news. She said later that what viewers wanted was more news--an hour instead of 30 minutes, which, when you include commercials, really translates into anywhere between 18 and 22 minutes of content.

"We're going to try to make some changes," Couric told Entertainment Tonight Wednesday, "but we're not going to alter it so dramatically that people are going to be like, 'What is this?' "

The announcement about CBS' online news extravaganza came just two days after the network said that it would start showing full-length episodes of seven prime-time series--including the new drama Jericho--on Innertube, the broadband channel it launched in May.