Katie, unbar the door

Well, that didn’t take long.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric will take her handful of viewers and go home, perhaps as soon as next January, after the Presidential inauguration. She’s currently signed with the network through June 2011, at $15 million per year.

But whatever CBS COO Les Moonves expected of Couric when he almost ran over her with his money truck has decidedly not occurred: Her ratings are worse than her predecessor’s Bob Schieffer’s, worse even than the guy who left the network ignominiously, Dan Rather. Couric manages about 5.9 million viewers a night, as opposed to NBC’s 8.3 million and ABC’s 8 million. That’s what you’d call a distant third place.

And giving Couric all that cash when it could’ve gone to serious newsgathering has seriously hamstrung CBS News – last week, it laid off a slew of local reporters at affiliates owned and operated by the network; this week, it was reported that the news division might outsource some of its duties to CNN.

One possible scenario in the WSJ’s chalk talk has Couric going to CNN herself, where she’d take over for The Cryptkeeper Little League aficionado Larry King, whose contract expires next year even if he doesn’t. This, of course, doesn’t really solve anything: One of the things that has been underscored during Couric’s tenure at CBS is her uneven interviewing skills – too cozy with Condoleezza Rice, too snippy with John and Elizabeth Edwards.

And, CBS would have to renew an anchor search having not much bothered to strengthen its farm system. And again with the CNN – one guy initially named as a possible anchor, John Roberts, bolted to CNN when it became apparent CBS wasn’t interested in grooming him for the gig. And you’d think that Moonves might’ve learned his lesson re: shelling out cash for pricey outsiders.

All grim stuff, indeed. So we’ll cede final word to the happy-face statements blandly issued by CBS News – “We are very proud of the ‘CBS Evening News’” – and Couric herself – “I am working hard and having fun.”