The novelty — and unprecedented hype — that followed Katie Couric into the CBS Evening News anchor chair might've bought her a ratings surge at first, but it appears to have dissipated.

Via USA Today:

After winning her first two weeks and dropping to second place in her third week, CBS' Katie Couric ended the final week of September in last place behind NBC and ABC.

Preliminary Nielsen ratings show The CBS Evening News with 7.5 million viewers, behind NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams (8.2 million) and ABC's World News With Charles Gibson (7.6 million). Final numbers will be released today.

At least there's the wild-card. CBS' spin: "The ratings history of network evening news anchor changes reveals a clear pattern of audience loss in the first month versus the same period a year earlier. Compared to the five anchor changes of the past two decades, Couric has dramatically reversed that pattern with the broadcast's remarkable growth."