Katie Couric leaving CBS Evening News

News anchor Katie Couric is stepping down from CBS Evening News after 5 years to pursue her own syndicated talk show in 2012.

The details have not been finalized for when she will depart CBS, but the news anchor has been an instrumental figure on the network, and also the first woman to solely host an evening news broadcast.

Katie Couric has achieved incredible success since her NBC Today Show, but the CBS newscast has remained in third place behind other networks. Her contract will expire on June 4th, and CBS execs are in discussion to see who can replace her.

Russ Mitchell, Scott Pelley and Harry Smith are among the internal CBS candidates, and new CBS News Chairman Jeff Fager is also expected to look outside the company.

Are you a fan of Katie Couric? What will her departure from CBS mean to you, and will you still watch the network when her replacement takes over in the latter part of this year?

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