Ratings Victim Couric: Ubiquity of TV Is a 'Real Turn-off'

I'm sure as a concerned social observer, CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric may genuinely think we as a society are too addicted to TV. That said, I can't help but feel that her persistent third-place status in the broadcast evening news race is part and parcel of her Andy Rooney-Lite rant against the boob tube. Here's the November 7 page from Katie Couric's "Notebook" (see video here):

This week in Newsweek, writer Allison Wood complains about seeing television everywhere, and I think we're on the same wavelength.

It's in your living room, the kitchen, the bedroom. Leave home and hail a taxi, it's there too. A lot of cabs now have little TV screens bombarding you with news and weather as you head to wherever you're going.

Get out of the cab and go into the office building and TV's in the elevator. Head to the doctor's office and there's another TV in the waiting room, constantly on. Leave work at the end of the day and TV's in the restaurant or the bar, even the supermarket. And of course, in airports too.

We used to have to contend with Muzak, now we're being overwhelmed by Viewzak. Can't we just sit and dream and think? I work in TV and I love it, but let's face it, TVs that are everywhere and always turned on are a real turn-off. That's a page from my Notebook, I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.