NEW YORK (AP) - If some people thought traveling to Iraq and Syria was a ratings stunt for Katie Couric, it didn't work out that way. The "CBS Evening News" tied a record low with just under 5.5 million viewers last week, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Last week and Memorial Day week are the two least-watched CBS evening newscasts since at least 1987, and probably far earlier.
CBS said it wasn't surprising, and argued that last week's numbers were artificially deflated because of U.S. Open coverage.
The trip's journalism outweighed commercial considerations, said CBS News President Sean McManus.
"We never expected it to do well in the ratings and it didn't," McManus said. "We knew that this was a long-term commitment to Katie and the show and we really felt it was important to establish our reporting there."
Take Friday's broadcast out of the mix and the evening news would have averaged just under 5.9 million last week, which is about where it's been the past few months. U.S. Open coverage pre-empted local news on Friday and many viewers clearly assumed Couric's broadcast would be, too.
War coverage took between 80 and 90 percent of the "CBS Evening News" broadcasts while Couric was there. Harry Smith gave a brief rundown of other headlines from CBS' New York studio.
Couric tried to bite into big-picture stories about whether the surge was working and how Iraqis feel about the U.S. presence. She visited a Baghdad marketplace and treacherous roadway, contrasting how they are now with footage of bombs exploding in the same spots months earlier.
The sharper-focused stories were among the most effective: Couric interviewing a family about what it's like to live in fear, Lara Logan's report on hand grenades posing a new threat to U.S. soldiers and Mark Strassman's piece on an independent TV network that preaches peace between religious sects—making its employees targets for violence.
Marvin Kalb, a CBS News reporter for 24 years and the Edward R. Murrow Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, described Couric's broadcasts as a combination of the best of Walter Cronkite and "Nightline."
"She's done excellent work," Kalb said. "She deserves an honest reappraisal. Whether that will be given to her, who knows. But it's deserved."
Some critics derided the trip as a ratings stunt. "The whole effort seems to be unnecessary," wrote critic Adam Buckman of the New York Post, in a piece headlined "The bore war."
Critic Susan Young of the Oakland Tribune wrote before Tuesday's broadcast that the trip had little news value, and was all about boosting ratings and proving Couric was tough.
But watching two nights "changed my view," Young said in an interview. She said Couric helped draw attention to an important story and had done some strong reporting.
Couric had the good timing to be in Iraq on Labor Day for President Bush's surprise visit, and she was given an interview. (ABC's Martha Raddatz also interviewed Bush.)
NBC's "Nightly News," which did not have the same intense focus on Iraq during the week before U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus' progress report, may have benefited from the decision. NBC's 7.78 million viewers inched close to ratings leader ABC, which averaged 7.81 million viewers last week, Nielsen said.
CBS' McManus said the trip accomplished everything he wanted journalistically.
"I'm pleased that people took notice of the job she did over there, but it didn't surprise anyone at CBS News," he said. "We all thought she would go over there and do a good job and she did."