​Yahoo confirmed Monday that Katie Couric is leaving ABC News to join the site as its new “Global Anchor,” conducting monthly newsmaker interviews and serving as the face of Yahoo News.

The move signals Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s intention to ramp up the site’s original content and video offerings, according to USA Today‘s Rem Rieder.

For Mayer, this is another bold move in her effort to breathe new life in the once-moribund Silicon Valley icon,” Rieder wrote. “To be sure, the firm has made great progress since Mayer left Google to take the helm at Yahoo on July 17, 2012. By sheer force of personality and will, the high-profile executive has radically changed the image of the company, very much for the better. Yahoo is cool again, or getting there.”

Couric will apparently be at the head of an expanding team of correspondents who will attempt to rejuvenate the Yahoo News operation. The move comes on the heels of Yahoo’s hiring of two big names from The New York Times: tech columnist David Pogue and political correspondent Matt Bai.

While Couric’s move will have no immediate impact on her syndicated show “Katie,” which is currently in its second season, there has been no indication yet as to whether it will be renewed for a third season.

Read More: AllThingsD, USA Today, LA Times

Brief Take: This is just the latest in a series of high-profile moves by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, but the risk for Couric is that few TV vets have successfully migrated to the Web.

Tags:


  Save as PDF