Katie Couric Said To Be Out in June, Working on Daytime Talk Show

RedTracker| The Associated Press reports that Katie Couric will leave her CBS anchor post after almost five years in the job. No departure date is set but Couric’s contract expires in early June. It’s expected that the former anchor of the Today Show will launch a syndicated talk show in 2012.

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. That’s roughly two-thirds of the typical audience (9.8 million) for Brian Williams and NBC’s “Nightly News.” ABC’s “World News” with Diane Sawyer averaged 8.7 million viewers.

On March 27, the NYPost reported that CBS was trying to persuade Couric to do a daytime talk show and become a regular correspondent for 60 Minutes.

Ironically, Couric’s 2006 contract called for her to contribute to the magazine at least six times a year, which never happened.

Until recently, Katie Couric was expected to stay on as anchor of the ‘CBS Evening News’ through the 2012 presidential elections. The Post reports that the February appointment of ‘60 Minutes’ chief Jeff Fager as CBS News chairman effectively ended that plan for Couric.