After much speculation, Katie Couric has made it official! Five years after becoming the first woman to host a nightly newscast on her own, Couric has finally announced that she is moving on.
"I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News," she said in a statement Tuesday. "I'm really proud of the talented team on the CBS Evening News and the award-winning work we've been able to do. In making the decision to move on, I know Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future."
With Couric's contract expiring in June, there has been plenty of talk in recent weeks that the 54-year-old journalist would be vacating her position. But Couric says she has no plans to leave the news world altogether -- she's just looking for new challenges in her career.
"I am looking at a format that will allow me to engage in more multi-dimensional storytelling," she says. "The bottom line is that I love doing all kinds of different stories. I have a lot of areas of interest and I want to be able to fulfill all of that."
"There's a lot to be proud of during Katie Couric's time at Evening News, a rep for CBS said, regarding Couric's departure. "CBS News, like Katie herself, is looking forward to the next chapter."
