As expected, Katie Couric is going to ABC, where she's
signed a multi-year, multi-platform deal, the company announced Monday.
Couric, who left her post as anchor of the CBS Evening News on May 19, will host
and produce her own nationally syndicated talk show that will premiere in
September 2012 and also join ABC News, said Anne Sweeney, president of the
Disney/ABC Television Group and co-chair of Disney Media Networks.
"Katie Couric is one of
television's iconic figures and we are thrilled to have forged such an exciting
partnership with her. We look forward to having Katie join the best news team
in the business, and to working with her to create a dynamic and successful
talk show franchise," said Sweeney in a statement.
Jeff Zucker, former president and CEO of NBCUniversal and
former executive producer of The Today Show, will serve as an executive
producer on the as-yet untitled show, which will be produced in New York in
conjunction with Disney/ABC. Sources say Disney/ABC and Couric's team also are
looking for a day-to-day executive producer, although no names have surfaced
yet.
"I'm very happy to be returning
to the network where I began my career as a desk assistant in 1979," said
Couric in a statement. "It is tremendously exciting to have the creative
freedom to develop my own show with Anne Sweeney, the Disney/ABC TV Group and
Jeff, and to contribute to such a vibrant, innovative news division. I can't
wait to be part of this incredibly talented, visionary team."
"It was a blast working with
Katie at Today and I'm excited to do it again," added Zucker. "And
besides, it should be more fun spending time with Katie at 3 or 4 in the afternoon
than at 3 or 4 in the morning."
Starting this summer, more than a year before her talk
show launches, Couric will join ABC News as a contributor to all programs and
platforms.
ABC already has cleared the new Couric vehicle at 3 p.m.
on its eight owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia,
San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh/Durham and Fresno. Those eight stations
represent 23% of the country. As part of the
announcement, the network is set to return the last hour of its network daytime
block to affiliates no earlier than September 2012, but plans to continue to
support its remaining soap opera, General Hospital, and to launch new
network shows, The Chew, this September, and The Revolution in
January 2012.
