Katie Couric era at "CBS Evening News" was drawing to a close, now Couric is leaving her post, less than five years after becoming the first woman to anchor a network evening newscast on her own, the AP reported on Sunday. No departure date has been set.
Katie has not officially announced what her next move will be, but her contract expires in early June, and she is expected to launch a syndicated talk show in 2012. Meanwhile, she has been in talks with NBC, ABC and CBS, as well as Jeff Zucker, the ex-chief executive of NBCUniversal, who produced NBC's 'Today' when Couric co-anchored the show.
There had been speculation that Couric was not as happy anchoring the evening news as she was co-anchoring 'Today'. Ratings for all network newscasts have declined sharply over the last decade while the morning shows have remained profitable. 'CBS Evening News' is currently in third place in the ratings, behind leader Brian Williams at NBC's 'Nightly News' and Diane Sawyer at ABC's 'World News'.
A CBS News representative said on monday, We're having ongoing discussions with Katie Couric. We have no announcements to make at this time. Until we do, we will continue to decline comment on rumor and speculation.
Katie Couric's rep Matthew Hiltzik declined to comment.
