When perky Katie brought her smile and empty head from morning show couch to evening news anchor desk, I predicted that she would be a disaster.

6 months after making her debut, the extent of that disaster is clear. In the recently completed February “sweeps” period, Couric’s evening newscast finished dead last among the three major networks. Since September 4, Couric has hemorrhaged 10 percent of the average audience she inherited from Bob Schieffer.

The reasons for Katie’s spectacular and on-going failure are as numerous as they are obvious. Katie’s over-the-top bias affects every aspect of her show, and viewers, after giving it a try for a while, are simply changing the channel.

More significant is the utter lack of substance in Katie’s nightly appearances. Writing in today’s USA Today, no less a media observer than the paper’s founder, Al Neuharth, writes, “Six months later her lack of serious reporting experience severely handicaps her on hard news.”

25 million viewers a week still turn into nightly news programs, and they’re looking for news. They’re not looking for Katie’s soft focus features and peachy-keen interviews.

Viewers are also looking for quality. And in that respect, Katie’s choice of networks is magnifying her already substantial flaws. The Dan Rather / National Guard / 60 Minutes debacle revealed for the world to see the shoddy quality of the day-to-day product and processes at CBS News.

A crappy product plus lightweight Katie equals disaster. And the fact that CBS executives couldn’t recognize that months ago when they were casting about for a new anchor reflects the same poor judgement and systemic flaws that permitted the Dan Rather piece to make it to air in the first place.

Columbia Broadcasting’s new division was once revered, and it can be again. But only by embracing quality, focusing on breaking real news, eliminating bias, and becoming a model of transparency.

The Public Eye blog is a solid step in the right direction. The network’s partnership with the excellent reporting staff at the Politico is another. (The television folks could also learn a thing or five from CBS’s outstanding radio team which is chocked full of enormously experienced reporters covering key beats and reporting actual news.)

But change starts at the top, and as long as Katie remains its primary public face, CBS News will — and should — continue to struggle.