Official: Couric Leaving 'CBS Evening News'

[alp227]

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

As expected, Katie Couric will leave her post as anchor of the CBS Evening News after five years, Couric confirmed Tuesday to People magazine.

"I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News," Couric told People. "I'm really proud of the talented team on the CBS Evening News and the award-winning work we've been able to do in the past five years in addition to the reporting I've done for 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning. In making the decision to move on, I know the Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future."

CBS News is expected to announce Couric's successor next week, after she anchors the network's royal wedding coverage in London on Friday. 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley is likely to be named to replace her.

Read more: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/467240-Official_Couric_Leaving_CBS_Evening_News_.php

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And Couric wants to do a syndicated daytime talk show like Anderson Cooper will do.

Interestingly, yesterday the CBS Evening News prioritized hard news as it led with stories about the WikiLeaked documents revealing the whereabouts of the Al-Qaeda leadership during 9/11 then covered the Middle East conflict and presented Couric's interview with astronaut Mark Kelly (husband of Gabrielle Giffords) while ABC and NBC led with the Midwest tornado. In contrast, CBS had the tornado precede the closing story about the historical British royal marriages.

PBS NewsHour led with the WikiLeaks revelations about Guantanamo, relegated the Syria protests in the news briefs section, then had a report and analysis of the Yemen conflict, a story about Stanford University proposing reviving ROTC, and an excerpt from Robert MacNeil's autism documentary. In contrast, NBC spent only 30 seconds on the WikiLeaks Gitmo story following full reports on the tornado and Libya.

[Taverner]

1. She needs to rediscover her roots

She's better in long-format news anyway

[Bozita]

2. She's scheduled as the only guest with Tavis Smiley tonight

[rocktivity]

3. Practically five years to the day since I posted

"I just don't think she has the gravitas for the job. She can turn the world on with her smile, but evening network news is a more serious business."

:headbang:
rocktivity

[EmmettKelly]

4. But she was still drawing a larger audience than almost all of

cable news combined. For the first three months of 2011, Couric's telecast was seen each night by an average of 6.4 million viewers, the Nielsen Co. said.

Really, what's that tell us?

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2011/04/can_a_katie_couric_successor_l.html

[Ian David]

5. Some people say Katie Couric sucks. n/t

[emilyg]

7. Raises hand.

[psychopomp]

8. She did a number on Palin though

Her interviews caught Palin off-guard and Palin was flapping in the breeze.

[Safetykitten]

6. Leaving "news" show.