REPORT: COURIC LIKELY TO STAY AS CBS ANCHOR

CBS and Katie Couric are open to a new deal that would keep her as anchor of the CBS Evening News when her current contract expires at the end of May, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday), citing people briefed on the matter. Under a new pact that will likely be proposed, the newspaper indicated, Couric’s $15-million-per-year contract would be “pared down” but she would be given the opportunity to offset any earnings loss by pursuing other business opportunties, such as a syndicated talk show or an additional online forum, the Journal suggested. Although Howard Kurtz, media columnist for Tina Brown’s TheDailyBeast.com reported last week that CBS has asked Couric to stay on through the 2012 elections, the Journal said that no such offer has been made. It quoted Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Couric, as saying, “Katie is really proud of the award-winning accomplishments of her team at CBS, and has not made any decisions about her future.”