Katie Couric

Katie Couric is moving back to her comfort zone: daytime TV. The popular news personality and the Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC television network on Monday announced a comprehensive deal that includes a high-profile role for Couric beginning this summer within the ABC News division, and starting in September 2012, the launch of a syndicated daytime talk show. Couric will produce and own the talk show along with her onetime "Today" show producer, former NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker.

In a gray suit, blue shirt and red tie, Scott Pelley got right to work as the anchor of the "CBS Evening News" on Monday night, after the five-year run of Katie Couric, whose move back to daytime was officially announced the same day. (She will fill some portion of the hole left by Oprah Winfrey at ABC but also work within the network's news division.) The headline stories cleaved to the solemn and monumental: Pakistan, Iraq, cancer and the D-day anniversary; inside the broadcast, as it were, were pieces on the slump in new housing, Apple's cloud software announcement, the Arizona wildfire and the Anthony Weiner Twitter debacle.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Katie Couric is likely headed to ABC with her syndicated talk show. ( Hollywood Reporter ) But Katie's big payday could mean the end of "General Hospital. " ( TMZ ) Reality honcho Mark Burnett will be producing the Emmy Awards this year. Here's hoping the nominees will be voted off the show one at a time. ( Los Angeles Times ) Jackie Cooper, one of the few child actors who successfully transitioned to an acting career as an adult, has died at age 88. ( Los Angeles Times )

Katie Couric is moving back to her comfort zone: daytime TV. The popular news personality and the Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC television network on Monday announced a comprehensive deal that includes a high-profile role for Couric beginning this summer within the ABC News division, and starting in September 2012, the launch of a syndicated daytime talk show. Couric will produce and own the talk show along with her onetime "Today" show producer, former NBCUniversal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker.

The Katie Couric era at the "CBS Evening News" appears to be drawing to a close. Couric, whose five-year contract to anchor the network's nightly news program expires in early June, is looking more likely to take a shot at daytime television, people familiar with the situation said. Almost from the day she started, there has been speculation that Couric was not as comfortable working the evening shift as she was in her previous job as co-anchor of NBC's hugely successful morning show, "Today.

"What advice would you offer young people trying to succeed today?" is the slowest-pitch softball in journalism — right up there with "How do you respond to your critics?" and "Who are you wearing?" It's the question of last resort, the one you ask when it becomes clear that you have exhausted all other topics of interest and still have five minutes to fill. So there is something telling, and distressing, about the fact that after five years of anchoring "CBS Evening News," this is the question Katie Couric chose as the keystone for her new book.

Katie Couric has poise, good looks, smarts and the kind of warmth on camera that a lot of other news people would love to duplicate. She also had the distinction of serving as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" as it became stubbornly locked into its position as least favored of the three nightly network newscasts. As Couric prepares to sign off Thursday night for the final time, one can't help but wonder what went wrong. Nothing more, it appears, than misplaced priorities, unrealistic expectations and an underestimation of how dangerous it can be to remake a venerable franchise.

After luring Katie Couric away from NBC's "Today" show in an attempt to revamp the evening news with star power and broad appeal, CBS News has made a more traditional choice in tapping "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley to succeed Couric. He will take up the anchor role on "CBS Evening News" starting June 6, the network announced on Tuesday. As an internal hire and a veteran newsmagazine reporter, Pelley is many things that Couric was not. Where Couric brought a conversational, accessible style from her morning show background, he represents the network's return to a more sober, direct approach.

Close watchers of the "CBS Evening News" may have noticed a subtle change in recent weeks. Instead of opening with a breezy "Hi, everyone," anchor Katie Couric has modified her welcome to the slightly more subdued "Hello, everyone." "Now it's a little formal," she told Stephen Colbert on Thursday during an appearance on his late-night Comedy Central show.

Katie Couric will make her prime-time CBS debut on Sept. 6 with a one-hour special tied to the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the network said. "Five Years Later -- How Safe Are We?" will focus on what the government is doing to prevent future attacks and how anxiety affects Americans. It's one day after Couric makes her debut as "CBS Evening News" anchor. She will anchor the evening news on Sept. 11 from ground zero.

Katie Couric has poise, good looks, smarts and the kind of warmth on camera that a lot of other news people would love to duplicate. She also had the distinction of serving as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" as it became stubbornly locked into its position as least favored of the three nightly network newscasts. As Couric prepares to sign off Thursday night for the final time, one can't help but wonder what went wrong. Nothing more, it appears, than misplaced priorities, unrealistic expectations and an underestimation of how dangerous it can be to remake a venerable franchise.

Oprah Winfrey, the monarch of daytime television, tapes her final episode this month. For 25 years, Winfrey, avatar of the national psyche and high priestess of the self-empowerment movement, has ruled the daytime airwaves by inviting celebrities and statesmen to her couch for friendly tête-à-têtes watched by millions of loyal followers. Already, members of TV's royalty are plotting to seize Winfrey's crown. Katie Couric is marshaling an insurgency. Anderson Cooper has staked a beachhead.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Thursday. Katie Couric is likely headed to ABC with her syndicated talk show. ( Hollywood Reporter ) But Katie's big payday could mean the end of "General Hospital. " ( TMZ ) Reality honcho Mark Burnett will be producing the Emmy Awards this year. Here's hoping the nominees will be voted off the show one at a time. ( Los Angeles Times ) Jackie Cooper, one of the few child actors who successfully transitioned to an acting career as an adult, has died at age 88. ( Los Angeles Times )

After luring Katie Couric away from NBC's "Today" show in an attempt to revamp the evening news with star power and broad appeal, CBS News has made a more traditional choice in tapping "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley to succeed Couric. He will take up the anchor role on "CBS Evening News" starting June 6, the network announced on Tuesday. As an internal hire and a veteran newsmagazine reporter, Pelley is many things that Couric was not. Where Couric brought a conversational, accessible style from her morning show background, he represents the network's return to a more sober, direct approach.

"What advice would you offer young people trying to succeed today?" is the slowest-pitch softball in journalism — right up there with "How do you respond to your critics?" and "Who are you wearing?" It's the question of last resort, the one you ask when it becomes clear that you have exhausted all other topics of interest and still have five minutes to fill. So there is something telling, and distressing, about the fact that after five years of anchoring "CBS Evening News," this is the question Katie Couric chose as the keystone for her new book.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer reunited today on, er, "Today. " ( Los Angeles Times ) President Obama is expected to appear on one of Oprah's final shows. There have been 44 presidents but only one Oprah. ( Los Angeles Times ) Speaking of presidents, presidential hopeful Donald Trump seems to be in a feud with Bill Cosby, of all people. ( Los Angeles Times ) An unhappy writer is suing Huffington Post and AOL for some of its $315 million sale price.

Re "Bye, Katie, We Love Ya ... and So On," Critic's Notebook, June 1: I fail to see Paul Brownfield's point, other than the fact he apparently does not care for Ms. Couric and appears to begrudge her celebrity and successes. Does every critique need to be negatively driven these days? The words "shallow" and "unnecessary" come to mind. Ms. Couric has accomplished a voluminous and altruistic, while humorous and intellect-driven resume on the "Today" show for 15 years. Please leave her alone and pick on someone far more worthy of the nitpicking.

The Television Critics Assn. Press Tour, the semiannual gathering of television journalists from around the country that began July 8, continues at the Beverly Hilton. We offer these dispatches. -- Katie Couric said she's not going anywhere -- at least not any time soon. Facing the press for the first time since reports surfaced this spring that she was preparing to leave the CBS News anchor chair after the presidential election, Couric said Friday that she's staying put. "We have no plans to part company any time soon," Couric said.

The Katie Couric era at the "CBS Evening News" appears to be drawing to a close. Couric, whose five-year contract to anchor the network's nightly news program expires in early June, is looking more likely to take a shot at daytime television, people familiar with the situation said. Almost from the day she started, there has been speculation that Couric was not as comfortable working the evening shift as she was in her previous job as co-anchor of NBC's hugely successful morning show, "Today.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski fired the latest shot in a bitter political rivalry with the state's former governor, saying Sarah Palin doesn't have the "intellectual curiosity" needed to be president. It also was likely no coincidence that Murkowski's made the comment during an interview with " CBS Evening News" host Katie Couric, whose 2008 interviews with then-vice presidential nominee Palin did much to color the nation's perception. Murkowski said her relationship with Palin had been "very professional" during Palin's governorship but that they had rarely spoken since.