Katie Couric's new talk show won't even debut until next fall, but it has already been cleared for 80% of the US television market!
The imaginatively titled Katie looks set to clear nearly 100% of the potential market by the time it makes its debut in 2012. ABC has already cleared two hours of daytime programming with the cancellation of two of its soap operas, the long-running All My Children and One Life to Live. The head of ABC daytime Brian Frons canceled both programs earlier in the year. All My Children left the airwaves this past September, with One Life to Live ending its forty-five-year run in January.
Rumors that the two soaps would be cancelled were rampant earlier in the year. Many insiders claim the shows were axed so that the ABC network would be able to afford Katie Couric's hefty asking price, which is estimated at over $30 million a season. With the cancellations, ABC has only one soap still on its roster, the California-based General Hospital. News came out last week that a last-ditch effort to save All My Children in an online format had fallen through, although One Life to Live is still expected to make the transition next year.
Katie Couric left as host of The CBS Evening News earlier this year after a five-year run.
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