Gail Shister
TVNewser Columnist

With "CBS Evening News" on life support, Katie Couric should walk away.

Now.

So says Emily Rooney, former executive producer of "ABC World News Tonight," among others.

"She should do it sooner than later. I'd do it now," says Rooney, media critic for Boston's WGBH. "What's she waiting for? Will it getter better after the election? After the inauguration? Of course not.

"We're in a lull on the political scene. We're not at the conventions or in the final leg of the campaign."

Rooney, "WNT" boss from 1993 to '94, says the departure must be Couric's call.

"Talk about stop-loss. It's got to be her move. She's got to make it work out for her in every way, personally. That's her No. 1 concern right now. She has to save some face here."

The embattled anchor "is realistic. She knows it's not working. She doesn't want to hurt the newscast any further, and she doesn't want to hurt herself. She has to figure out a way to make an exit strategy."

Consider: "Evening News" last week delivered a record low 5.4 million viewers. That's 200,000 fewer than did Couric's Dawn Patrol alma mater, "Today."

Couric woke up and smelled the coffee months ago.

Since the New York Times reported two weeks ago that she had discussed her possible egress with CBS executives in February, many see her as a lame duck.

"Viewers aren't dumb," says Rooney. "If they think someone is a lame duck, why invest in that? It's over. That's why the broadcast is going downhill. They know change is coming."

In a surprise appearance at CBS's daily news meeting in New York last Friday, network czar Les Moonves reinforced CBS's commitment to his $15 million-a-year star.

Beware of public endorsements. They usually mean three words: Update your resume.

"The fact that my boss needs to make a comment, one way or the other, shows me I'm on shaky ground," says network-news analyst Andrew Tyndall. "A boss only comments when a star is vulnerable. I would not be encouraged."

CBS veteran Marvin Kalb, senior fellow at Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, says Moonves' motive "may have been no more complicated than trying to ease Katie's public humiliation."

Asked for a response, a CBS rep says via email: "It's pathetic how some people continue to jabber about this nonsense on a regular basis, repeatedly attacking an excellent news program and its talented and hard-working anchor.

"And it's even more disappointing that an outlet supposedly dedicated to news reporting dignifies their incessant mumbling. It must, indeed, be a slow news day."

Kalb and Tyndall say it hurt Couric's reputation to be the only Big 3 anchor shut out from moderating a presidential primary debate. NBC's Brian Williams did five; ABC's Charlie Gibson three.

"Why is that?" Kalb says. "The minute the question is raised, you have hurt her. I never understood why it could not be arranged."

Tyndall sees it as a reflection of Couric's "lack of clout. One of the things she came to CBS with was, 'I can get the big gets.' She wasn't able to get a debate."

A Couric fan, Kalb advises her to "stay through the inauguration. You're a very talented person. You'll find something better to do. You're not in the right slot now, but there are many slots in this world."

Tyndall's counsel is a bit more jaded: "Take a long sabbatical, then hope for Larry King to keel over."