0/5

Katie Couric confirms CBS Evening News exit

US news anchor Katie Couric has confirmed her exit plan from CBS Evening News which she has fronted for five years.

US news anchor Katie Couric has confirmed her exit plan from CBS Evening News which she has fronted for five years.

She will exit in June when her contract ends.

Couric, well-known to Australian viewers for her years on NBC’s Today show, failed to pull CBS out of third place despite her $15 million a year salary.

“There’s a lot to be proud of during her time at CBS Evening News,” the network said in a statement. “CBS News, like Katie herself, is looking forward to the next chapter.”

CBS is expected to announce Couric’s replacement before it unveils its new Fall schedule for advertisers in New York on May 18. 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley is widely believed to be the leading candidate.

News of Couric’s exit came as no surprise to the television industry, which is already speculating about whether she will launch a daytime talk show — and which network might carry it.

There is speculation that ABC might become her new home, but CBS may yet offer her something similar. There is even talk she may co-host with former Today show cohort Matt Lauer.

During a recent interview Couric suggested that she was looking forward to “doing what I do what I do best, interacting with people, interviewing people and having sort of more extended conversations.”

However changes to the television landscape indicate it may be very difficult to try and become the next Oprah or Phil Donahue.

Source: LA Times

11 Responses

  1. @steve – Yes, pretty much. Local news followed by network news half-hour from New York.
    $15M seems like a ridiculous amount to pay an autocue reader, who is least-watched out of the big three networks.

  2. How does the American News cycle work on the commercial network? Do they have local News service in each state, affiliates, whatever and then have the national News which is hosted by an individual anchor?

  3. If she does go to ABC then she would have been at all 3 commercial Networks, which would be an amazing yet somewhat unsuccessful achievement. Maybe she could explore cable tv, although who would be able to pay her the 15 million she has become accustomed to. I know that australian journalists, newsreaders and sports broadcasters/commentators could only dream of that kind of money.

Leave a Reply