“Network anchors are a bit like European monarchs: they don’t really matter much anymore, but people still perk up for a royal wedding or a changing of the stars.

CBS, which weathered Dan Rather’s scandal-tinted abdication and the splashy ascension of Katie Couric, carries some of the melodrama and tabloid pizazz of Britain’s royal family. Like NBC before it, ABC News favors more orderly, tame transitions. ABC is closer to a Scandinavian monarchy: if there is an internal scramble for the throne, nobody outside the realm really cares; once crowned, the royals try to play down their privilege. ”