Imus Tells Howard Kurtz His Pick to Succeed Katie Couric at CBS

Imus has read his buddy Howard Kurtz’s articles more often in the last few months than in years, owing to Kurtz leaving the Washington Post for The Daily Beast, where he writes about the media (his specialty), politics, business, and anything else that peaks his interest.
 
“The Daily Beast is kind of a hot website right now,” Kurtz told Imus. “The fact that you’re reading it, I think, speaks volumes of where we are.”
 
Even though he is prone to kissy-face remarks like that, Kurtz knows his stuff. As such, he does not think the federal government will shutdown in the coming days.
 
“Both parties realize that they’re going to look bad,” Kurtz, also the host of CNN’s Reliable Sources, said. “That hasn’t stopped folks in Washington before from doing self-destructive things, and maybe it’ll shut down for a couple of days. But ultimately, if they can’t hammer out a deal, I think Boehner and the Republicans and Obama and the White House will be forced to go to another temporary measure.”
 
Because Americans, in his view, will not be amused when their social security checks don’t arrive, or they can’t visit a national park. But as Imus sees it, the government is so poorly run that shutting it down might actually be an improvement.
 
“I can see that,” Kurtz said. “On the other hand, I think I’d be wary of getting on a plane without air traffic controllers.”
 
Wuss.
 
Kurtz was less hesitant to discuss Katie Couric’s departure from CBS Evening News, a story he broke about a year ago. “It was pretty apparent that that format proved to be a straightjacket for Katie Couric,” he said. “She’s kind of a freewheeling personality, who thrived on the two-hour morning show format at The Today Show. Plus, she can make plenty more money in some kind of daytime syndication deal.”
 
Given that Couric recently took off Iraq, Kurtz suspects she’ll keep one foot in the news world, possibly as a contributor to 60 Minutes, or something like that. “I think CBS was ready to move on,” he said. “They were paying her a lot of money, and the CBS Evening News is still in third place, and I think Katie herself realized it was time for another step in her career.”
 
One of the names being bandied about to replace Couric is 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, a selection that would not surprise Kurtz. “Unless there’s some outsider they would like to lure in,” he added.
 
Imus thinks Pelley would be a suitable option, but maybe not ideal. “We want somebody who will eventually take a gun out and shoot themselves on television,” he said.
 
A few seconds later, the obvious choice came to Imus. “We want Glenn Beck!”
 
-Julie Kanfer