Daily talk show Katie will end its run after two seasons in June 2014.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the daily talk show starring former CBS News anchor Katie Couric was cancelled after its second season, a mutual decision between Disney/ABC and Couric.
“We’re very proud of everyone’s contributions to making Katie the No. 1 new syndicated talk show of 2012-13,” Disney/ABC and Couric said in a statement, “and we look forward to the rest of the season.”
The show was top-rated in total households but it lagged in key the demographic of women age 25-54. The show was one of the most expensive shows in syndication and that cost could not be justified by the ratings. The show’s original executive producer, Jeff Zucker, departed halfway through the first season and other executive producers came in surrounding rumors of conflict behind the scenes. The show lacked in big-name stars mainly because of Couric’s hard news approach to interviews.
Couric will begin a new job with Yahoo! in early 2014 as a global anchor. She is rumored to receive a $6 million a year salary, one million higher than her talk show salary. This cancellation opens up the 3:00 and 4:00 PM time slots on ABC-owned stations. Some of those stations have already chosen shows for next fall, which may have contributed to the decision.