Not many syndicated talk shows survive to a second year, but if one show was a likely candidate, it was the new entry starring Katie Couric. On Wednesday, Disney-ABC Domestic Television made it official: the show will return for a second season.
That decision was widely expected because “Katie†has been, by far, the best-rated new syndicated talk entry this season. It also moved easily into the top tier among all the shows in the talk category, finishing sixth in total viewers of the 18 syndicated shows competing in the talk genre. It averages about 2.5 million viewers each day.
The renewal is good news for Ms. Couric, who took something of a risk leaving the network news business, where she had most recently been the anchor of “The CBS Evening News.†It is also good news for Jeff Zucker, now the president at CNN, because he shares ownership of the show with Ms. Couric and the syndication company.
Mr. Zucker, who first teamed up with Ms. Couric on NBC’s “Today,†was the exeutive producer of “Katie†before he took the job at CNN.
