Katie Couric Officially Steps Down From the CBS Evening News

After five years of hosting the Evening News on CBS, Katie Couric has made it official by announcing that she is stepping down from her anchor chair.

Couric never really found a grove with viewers and ratings for her show declined each year.

The network has not announced her last show but is moving to hire Scott Pelley of "60 Minutes" as her successor as early as next week.

Couric’s contract expires June 4 and she says she would like to create and host her own talk show by next year.

Couric's news broadcast was seen nightly by about 6.3 million viewers, the Nielsen Co. said. That's only two-thirds of the usual viewership of 9.8 million for Brian Williams and NBC's "Nightly News." ABC's "World News" with Diane Sawyer gets about 8.7 million viewers.

Couric has released the following statement,

“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 the past five years in addition to the reporting I’ve done for 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning.

In making the decision to move on, I know the Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future.”

John McCain Snubs Frustrated David Letterman - Video

John McCain put David Letterman on the hot seat last night when he called the talk show host and cancelled his appearance at the last minute. Letterman was not happy, and had to find a last minute guest to fill his spot.

The problem? Letterman learned that McCain was only five blocks away at the time doing an interview with Katie Couric.

Letterman became especially upset when he caught the Republican presidential nominee in a live feed from New York being interviewed by his own network's Katie Couric. McCain had personally told Letterman he was canceling because he was headed back to the capital to handle the financial crisis.

Letterman told his audience that when things get tough, it is not the time to suspend a campaign, and that something didn't smell right. His comments also criticized Sarah Palin, McCain's old age, and the whole issue of the Financial Meltdown.

Letterman speculated that McCain did not cancel because of the financial crisis, but rather because of problems in his poll numbers.

At one point, Letterman interrupted his guest, Keith Olbermann, to show the audience the live feed of Couric's show and John McCain getting his makeup touched up. Letterman screamed at the camera, "John, do you need a ride to the airport?"

Watch David Letterman React To John McCain Cancellation

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