Speaking of News…

CBS won’t confirm it. Katie’s camp is all mum. Nobody wants to talk about what everybody knows.

It was really big news in 2006 when everybody was talking about Katie, the first woman to chair an evening news broadcast. CBS lured Couric away from NBC’s Today show hoping her fresh style and big smile would bring viewers by the millions.

Yet, five years later, CBS Evening News is a distant third in the network news rankings, behind Brian William’s NBC “Nightly News” and Diane Sawyer at ABC’s World News a close second. According to Ricky Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” That certainly seems true at CBS.

Where she is first is in her paycheck. At a reported salary of $15 million, Couric is the highest paid news personality on television. That’s a whole lot of teeth whitener.

According to unnamed sources at CBS, Couric’s replacement will be “”60 Minutes” host Scott Pelley.

Nobody knows where Couric goes from here but some are saying she is negotiating to launch a syndicated talk show in 2012. I think it safe to say, wherever she lands, Katie Couric will be the best Katie Couric she can be.