Katie Couric Leaving CBS!

Is Katie Couric leaving CBS? That’s the buzz, and if she does plan an exit, it may be as early as next year after the Presidential Inauguration, the Wall Street Journal has reported.Katie started out at CBS in June 2006, with a salary of an estimated $15 million. Her contract expires in 2011. Her anchor duties on Evening News has yet to climb back out of third place in the ratings, behind NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (9 million viewers) and ABC’s World News with Charlie Gibson (8.8 million viewers). Evening News garners about 6.7 million viewers.

A statement was released by CBS yesterday:“We are very proud of the ‘CBS Evening News,’ particularly our political coverage, and we have no plans for any changes regarding Katie or the broadcast.”Katie released her own statement:“I am working hard and having fun. My colleagues continue to impress me with their commitment to the newscast, and I am very proud of the show we put on every day.”

There are rumors that are floating around that she is tapped to replace Larry King, whose contract ends in 2009. Katie is friends with CNN President Jon Klein (a former CBS exec), and she was seen having lunch with him last January as well as attending Klein’s birthday party in March. Personally, I think this would be a better fit for Katie as Larry King needs to knock on retirement’s door already.