Long rumored but still not officially confirmed, word is Katie Couric will publically announce she's leaving CBS Evening News sometime after the Royal Wedding. Her five year stretch as anchor was marred but some early lows and criticism, but in the last few cycles, she's started to find her stride, even if it hasn't quite improved CBS' third place rating.
Where Couric will choose to go from here is still an unknown, but many insiders are speculating she'll end up hosting a daytime talk show host. Far from an easy road, morning/ afternoon programming is a tough market to tap with the likes of Judge Judy and Ellen monopolizing ratings, but the loss of Oprah Winfrey should open up a void someone will fill. Anderson Cooper has already announced he'll try, which could set up an epic battle for legitimacy if Couric decides to move forward with this talk show plan.
According to The New York Times, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley is widely expected to be announced as Couric's successor, but that won't be made public until the exiting anchor acknowledges her leaving.
So, after five years of mediocre ratings, should Katie Couric's tenure as CBS Evening News anchor be considered a failure? Much ado was made initially about her being a woman taking over for Dan Rather, but after that initial barrier was broken, the general public treated her with mostly indifference. Something tells me she would still choose to take the job in retrospect but probably do a few things differently in terms of on air direction.
At the end of the day, Katie Couric is still a likeable personality. She fares very well on human interest stories; so, expect whatever she ends up doing to focus very heavily on her strengths.
