Bob Schieffer "scores much higher" than Katie Couric in this new Gallup poll of "television news and talk personalities." Among respondents with opinions of each person, Schieffer has a 87 percent favorable and 13 percent unfavorable rating. His successor on the CBS Evening News has a 72 percent favorable and 28 percent unfavorable rating.

There's a catch, of course: Only 17 percent of respondents had no opinion or knowledge of Couric, while 41 percent had no comment on Schieffer. Couric is clearly more well-known. But in the full sample, Schieffer's unfavorable rating is just 9 percent, while Couric's is 23 percent.

There's also a 17 point net difference between Republican and Democratic opinions of Couric. CBS is well aware of all this, but the data is interesting nonetheless...