Charlie Gibson Only Cool in the Ratings

Revealed at last: the reason ABC has been gaining viewers for its evening newscast while NBC and CBS have been losing them. It's authenticity and humanity -- specifically, Charlie Gibson's lack thereof.

The Times recounts how Gibson alone, of the Big Three anchors, declined to go along with Stephen Colbert's "WristStrong" gag. Katie Couric and Brian Williams both agreed to wear Colbert's red wristband on the air.

Huffington Post writer Rachel Sklar, who chronicled the WristStrong saga extensively last week, somehow manages to cast Gibson's refusal to trade in part of his gravitas for cool points as a moral failing:

It's a test. If you play along, you're funny and cool, and if you don't, you're stiff and boring. How people like Brian Williams and Katie Couric react to him are an indication of what they are really like -- their instinctive reactions are measures of their good humor and authenticity and humanity.

Or, hey, maybe it's a measure of how badly they crave approval. And maybe viewers want a stiff, boring guy who seems like he'd rather deliver the news than run for class president of Anchor High. And maybe that explains why he's been kicking Brian and Katie's butts for the past year.

Just a thought.

UPDATE: Sklar's quote had a somewhat different flavor in its original context.