Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Disney Co.’s ABC is talking to Katie Couric about doing a syndicated talk show that would launch in the fall of 2012, and having a role within ABC News. Sam Schechner writes:
In the deal under consideration, Ms. Couric would own her syndicated show, and Disney would pay upwards of $20 million as an advance, people familiar with the talks said, with the overall amount determined by the show’s performance. As part of the deal, ABC could clear an hour of time between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the afternoon on its own stations, one of the people said.
One wildcard is CBS, which had been a strong contender to land Ms. Couric’s daytime show, while keeping her involved in some capacity at CBS News. CBS yanked its offer to Ms. Couric in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, but the network retains the right to match outside offers until Ms. Couric’s existing CBS contract runs out around the beginning of June. So far, it has not waived that right, people familiar with the matter said.
TMZ.com reported Thursday that under the deal that’s in the final stages, Couric would do specials for “20/20,” and do a significant amount of fill-in work — including anchoring. It added: “We’re told Matt Lauer will NOT be part of Katie’s show.”
