Simon Defeats Katie

This just confirms that the only people who watch network news eat dinner at 4:30 and go to bed after Jeopardy.
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Do you think she’ll ask Weezy what newspapers and magazines he reads?

I don’t know: is it fair to read the failure of Katie’s one-shot prime-time newscast as an affirmation of anything? It wasn’t well promoted (your blog notwithstanding); it was scheduled for just the one night without any unique promotable content that might encourage viewers to seek it out; it was up against American Idol and other traditional prime-time entertainments; and perhaps most importantly it was on CBS, typically the least popular of the three newscasts anyway.
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If all three networks were to agree to air their 6:30 shows in the 8 p.m. slot for one week, we might get a better sense of exactly how much viewers care about old-fashioned newscasts in a 21st-century media landscape. All this event proves is that viewers prefer dessert to dinner, which shouldn’t be surprising to anyone.

@erich: It is a bit of a cheap shot, yes. But (1) CBS didn’t schedule the one-off just for yuks, so even if they have no primetime news plans, they must see some value in the comparison. (Maybe to test the waters for future news specials? I dunno.) (2) While CBS is the least-watched newscast, comparing the stunt with *its own regular perofrmance* is at least somewhat apples-to-apples. And (3) more important, if there is ever a primetime newscast, it will not be done by three networks acting in concert; much more likely it will be one network–probably the third place one–rolling the dice alone, so it will have to compete against entertainment offerings. (Or Jay Leno.)
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You are absolutely right, though, that this does not prove a regularly scheduled 8 p..m. newscast would do the same. The flip side is that it might well do worse.

“get everyone to lose their jobs”

Yeah, like that’ll ever happen. Of course, Couric & co. might lose their jobs before we do, at which point we’ll watch Paula Abdul for the news.