Katie Couric Chillaxes Her Way Through Sweeps

Network anchors tend to be the kind of people who pride themselves on grueling fits of on-the-job endurance. So when Katie Couric went missing from the CBS Evening News anchor chair for four days last month, it raised eyebrows -- particularly because her absences fell during February sweeps, one of the periods when ratings are measured.

Was this Couric's way of protesting CBS News's failure to snag a primary debate for her? Actually, a spokeswoman says two of the absences were related to the campaign: On Feb. 7, she was away interviewing Hillary Clinton for 60 Minutes (and we all know how that went), and on Feb. 13 she was busy taping an interview with Michelle Obama. That leaves only Feb. 18, which was Presidents' Day, and Feb. 19, which she took off.

While that may sound reasonable enough, it's still "unusual," says TV news analyst Andrew Tyndall. Although sweeps periods matter more for local news broadcasts than for the networks, they're still considered important. "The anchors normally take their time off in non-sweeps months," he says.

Indeed, neither Brian Williams nor Charles Gibson missed a day during the sweep -- not even Presidents' Day. And both those guys earn less than Couric.

One thing's for sure: Taking long weekends when her rivals are working isn't going to dampen speculation that she's already resigned to joining 60 Minutes full-time.