In a fresh move to project itself as a media group, Yahoo said it has signed up renowned journalist Katie Couric, who has been working for the past 22 years as a talk-show host and news anchor at organizations like NBC, CBS and ABC, as a "global anchor."
"Couric is joining the company as Global Anchor, as part of Yahoo's ongoing commitment to re-imagine how news and information is delivered and consumed," said Yahoo in a statement.
Couric's role as "global anchor" will involve leading the team of correspondents at Yahoo News and also doing occasional interviews. "I will be involved in developing a lot of concepts, but not necessarily doing everything," Couric said. "I will be doing interviews, but not on a daily basis. Probably monthly at this point."
Couric will begin with Yahoo News in early next year. She will also continue to host her daytime television talk show "Katie," which ends in May next year.
"Thrilled to join @YahooNews as Global Anchor! Great team there led by @MarissaMayer & an exciting future ahead!" Couric tweeted.
Thrilled to join @YahooNews as Global Anchor! Great team there led by @MarissaMayer & an exciting future ahead! https://t.co/h8piIjA9DL
— Katie Couric (@katiecouric) November 25, 2013
Couric is best known for her show "Today" on NBC which she presented for 15 years. She later joined CBS in 2011. The following year, she started her own show "Katie" for ABC. The show has managed to draw an average of 2.17 million viewers, slightly less compared to the inaugural season (2.26 million).
Yahoo has also managed to bag prominent technology columnist David Pogue, Megan Liberman and political reporter Matt Bai form New York Times.
Presently, Yahoo has the most popular online news section in the U.S. which drew 81.5 million visitors in October, followed by CNN with 70 million visitors.
It is believed that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer had personally spearheaded the move to get Couric.
