An ongoing survey of more than 6,000 respondents shows [Katie] Couric‘s likability scores slipping over the past 18 months, while her rivals’ have held steady or improved,” Women’s Wear Daily says.

“The survey was conducted by Genius Insight, a New York-based marketing and research firm that tracks public perceptions of more than 2,000 celebrities and publishes the findings in its quarterly StarPower report. The summer 2004 study measured Couric’s likability rating at 61, a number calculated from five possible responses ranging from “do not like at all” to “like a lot.” That figure wavered only slightly over the next three quarters, dipping to 59 that fall and winter and inching up to 60 in the spring.” After a wave of negative publicity, Couric’s rating dropped to 55 in summer 2005, “where it stayed through the autumn.”

> “Fellow morning personalities Diane Sawyer, Matt Lauer and Julie Chen all were rated as more likable in 2005 than 2004.” Sawyer had a 62 in both 2004 and 2005, and Chen had a 59 this year, up from 55…

> Andrew Tyndall: “She’s declined from astronomical to merely excellent.”