The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that Katie Couric is likely to ankle her anchor gig at "CBS Evening News" soon--way before her contract ends in 2011. Soon, as in, after the November election. Katie has been a big dud, of course, as an nightly news anchor. (Although, of course, the nightly news broadcasts are themselves a long-term fizzle in the age of 24/7 news.)
But what's also of more immediate interest to Cable Gamers is the article's blithe presumption that Couric would replace Larry King in his long-running CNN show. And the answer, of course, is that Couric probably can--after all, CNN prexy Jon Klein is an ex-CBS-er; he and Couric are social friends. As the Journal's Rebecca Dana explains:
Mr. King's talk-show slot at CNN might be a better fit than evening-newscast anchor for Ms. Couric, who is 51. She made her reputation as a skilled interviewer when she was an anchor at the "Today" show on General Electric Co.'s NBC network.
And then the WSJ adds a little dish:
CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves lured Ms. Couric to CBS with promises that the staid "CBS Evening News," once anchored by Walter Cronkite, would be remade in a format more suited to her skills. He vowed to dedicate more money to the broadcast and to build up its Web presence. People close to Ms. Couric complain that the network didn't follow through on all those promises.
Such blunt talk from "people close to" Couric suggests that she is pretty far along on her plan for moving to CNN, such that she feels that she can burn her remaining bridges with CBS.
Of course, yet to be heard from is The King himself--Larry King. What does he think about being pushed aside like this?
Cable Gamers want to know!
