Though the deal is still in development, Katie Couric has come out and announced that her very own syndicated talk show will start airing in September of 2012 on ABC. In a statement, Couric said “I am very happy to be returning to the network where I began my career as a desk assistant in 1979. It is tremendously exciting to have the creative freedom to develop my own show with Anne Sweeney, the Disney/ABC TV Group and Jeff [Zucker] and to contribute to such a vibrant, innovative news division.” Couric announced she was going to leave her position as anchor of the CBS Evening News back in April, and cited the reason for her departure as the desire to pursue “more multi-dimensional storytelling” (or in other words, the kind that viewers on the Today show loved, but the kind there was no room for while delivering the evening news). Then of course, everyone wondered where Couric’s talents would end up: back at CBS, back at NBC, or somewhere else. CBS executives took a poll of how many station owners would feel comfortable having a Couric’s show on their channel if it meant losing Judge Judy, and not many of them were so the network withdrew its offer. NBC also considered making Couric as part of their lineup, but passed when they failed to see how Couric would bring them revenue. ABC, however, almost missed out on the opportunity because they offered Couric a network show, instead of what she wanted which was a much more profitable syndicated one. However, both parties managed to come to an agreement where Couric will be a part-owner of the program, which means she’ll make at least $10 million a year…and that should really encourage her to pull out all the stops when reporting about how frequently dogs are born with different colored eyes.
Source: THR
