Changes at CBS: Katie Couric May Leave Soon, Julie Chen Lands Another Gig
If the gossip from New York's Gabriel Sherman is to be believed, Katie Couric's days are numbered as anchor of the CBS Evening News. At the same time, network chief Les Moonves has secured another gig for wife Julie Chen.
Rumors that Couric won't be getting her contract renewed as anchor of the CBS Evening News have been swirling for a while now. The latest twist: The network may decide not to wait until her contract is up next June and buy her out of her $15 million-a-year deal as soon as this September. One option apparently under discussion is to go back to a more traditional news format anchored by 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley. But CBS may also be rethinking the news division entirely, and CBS CEO Les Moonves may be interested in reviving talks with CNN to form some sort of news-gathering partnership. As for Couric, no one knows what her next step will be, although it's possible she could go back to NBC or start a production company of her own.
As for Julie Chen, she's leaving her position as co-host of CBS' Early Show to be on the panel of a new daytime talk show that will fill the time slot occupied by the soap opera As the World Turns. Strangely enough, the show is executive produced by former Roseanne actress Sara Gilbert, who will serve on the panel alongside Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini, and Marissa Jaret Winokur as part of a show that sounds suspiciously similar to ABC's The View. Given that Chen's nickname for when she hosted CBS' reality show Big Brother was "the Chenbot," this should go over spectacularly well. This is why it pays to sleep with the boss, folks!