Journal: Couric Likely to Leave CBS

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that CBS News is likely to part ways with its evening news anchor, Katie Couric, who earns about $15 million a year. Consistently in last place among the networks, CBS has been under pressure to right the ship, and was even reported to have considered outsourcing some news operations to CNN. CBS says no such plan is in the works.

Wall Street Journal:

After two years of record-low ratings, both CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the “CBS Evening News” anchor is likely to leave the network well before her contract expires in 2011—possibly soon after the presidential inauguration early next year.

Ms. Couric isn’t even halfway through her five-year contract with CBS, which began in June 2006 and pays an annual salary of around $15 million. But CBS executives are under pressure to cut costs and improve ratings for the broadcast, which trails rival newscasts on ABC and NBC by wide margins.

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