Katie Couric was chided by David Letterman this week for thinking of leaving her job as anchor of the CBS Evening News. 
 
 "It's not like it's a temp gig," Letterman told Couric, reminding her that other anchors "ride into the sunset." 
 
 For Couric, the sun apparently sets around 2 p.m. Don't blame her, though. That anchor seat has lost a lot of value since it was occupied by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather. In fact, a case could be made that Couric traded down when she left NBC's "Today" for CBS. 
 
 Now she wants to try daytime. What's interesting is that CBS does not appear to be making a big push to keep her in the anchor chair. CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, who was instrumental in wooing Couric away from NBC to CBS, is sitting back and letting the new leadership at CBS News -- Chairman Jeff Fager and President David Rhodes, call the shots, according to people familiar with the situation. 
 
 Moonves may not want to be seen publicly pursuing someone who clearly has their mind made up. Perhaps singing "Happy Birthday" to Couric for a video the network made for her in January was as far as he was willing to go. 
 
 That Couric is consulting with her former "Today" producer (and ex-NBC Universal CEO) Jeff Zucker probably hasn't helped her relationship with her current bosses at CBS. It will be interesting to see if CBS seriously considers going after a Couric talk show or passes. 
 
 Inside CBS, attention is starting to focus on Scott Pelley as the leading candidate for Couric's job should she bolt, which seems to be a foregone conclusion. 
 
 Pelley, a "60 Minutes" correspondent, is close to Fager, who besides being chairman of CBS News continues to executive produce the newsmagazine. 
 
 Pelley has been with CBS for more than 21 years. If he is given the job, odds are the network won't have to worry about him eyeing his next big deal or wondering what else is on the horizon. 
 
 If Couric does leave, her stint at CBS will be one of the shortest for an evening news anchor. Cronkite did it for almost 20 years and Rather for more than two decades. ABC's Peter Jennings and NBC's Tom Brokaw also put in over 20 years anchoring. While ABC weathered some instability with the anchor slot after Jennings died, Diane Sawyer seems willing to take Letterman's advice and ride into the sunset. NBC's Brian Williams also seems entirely comfortable in his job. 
 
 There will be lots of analysis about Couric's run at CBS News. She did not boost ratings the way CBS would have liked. Her persona, perfect for the morning, ultimately did not work as well in the evenings. The media seemed more obsessed than viewers about her role as CBS News anchor. In daytime, she will be back in her comfort zone. 
 
 -- Joe Flint 
 
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 Photos: Top right: Katie Couric. Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images. Bottom left: Scott Pelley. Credit: John Filo/CBS. ||||| CBS news anchor Katie Couric poses at the ''Stand Up To Cancer'' television event, aimed at raising funds to accelerate innovative cancer research, at the Sony Studios Lot in Culver City, California September 10, 2010. 
 
 NEW YORK | 
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Katie Couric, the first woman in the nation to serve as solo network evening news anchor, ended her stint on "CBS Evening News" on Thursday, saying it had been "an incredible journey" and "an extraordinary privilege." 
 
 The broadcast included Couric's interview with another history-making woman, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who became the first former first lady to win elected office when she joined the Senate in 2001. 
 
 Couric discussed President Obama's foreign policy speech on developments in the Arab world with Clinton, who also sought the presidency in 2008. 
 
 Clinton also addressed negotiations with Israel and the Palestinians, and Washington's policy toward Pakistan in the wake of Osama Bin Laden's death in a U.S. military raid. 
 
 The show began with a report on accusations of doping against Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong made by one of his former teammates, Tyler Hamilton. 
 
 Other stories reported on an experimental treatment for paralysis victims, the initial public offering for the professional networking site LinkedIn, and the progress of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was gravely wounded earlier this year during a mass shooting in Arizona. 
 
 Couric also used her final evening news broadcast, which capped a sometimes troubled run that began in September 2006, to look back on the events and people she had covered since she assumed the anchor chair at CBS. 
 
 "It's been an extraordinary privilege to sit in this chair," she said, introducing the segment. 
 
 Included were interviews with President Bush, Alex Rodriguez, Clint Eastwood, President Obama, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and perhaps most memorably, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who seemed ill-prepared for many of Couric's questions. 
 
 The segment also included clips on her reporting on the war in Iraq, wildfires in California, the attempted bombing in Times Square and last summer's oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Couric ended the broadcast after the montage, thanking viewers "for coming along with me on this incredible journey. 
 
 "That's the CBS Evening News for tonight. I'm Katie Couric. Good night," she said. 
 
 Couric moved to CBS News after 15 years as co-host of NBC's top-rated morning show, "Today," and at the time spoke of plans to revamp and update the nightly network news format. 
 
 She recently said that was overly ambitious, and it might have proven more successful to do a traditional broadcast format and introduce changes only gradually. 
 
 During the broadcast's early days, some observers focused on Couric's style and appearance, drawing criticism that male anchors would never have been subject to such surface details. 
 
 Couric won a number of prestigious awards during her relatively brief tenure and scored journalistic coups, but never managed to lift "CBS Evening News" out of third place behind "NBC Nightly News" and "ABC World News." 
 
 "60 Minutes" reporter Scott Pelley will succeed Couric, whose contract is up in June, on June 6. 
 
 Couric, 54, is reported to be in talks to develop a daytime talk show. 
 
 (Editing by Greg McCune)
– Katie Couric, the first woman to be solo anchor of an evening network news show, has officially signed off on her 5-year stint at CBS. Couric's final CBS Evening News broadcast included an interview with Hillary Clinton and a "5 years in 5 minutes" retrospective of her time as anchor, Reuters reports. "It's been an extraordinary privilege to sit in this chair," she said before the segment, which included interviews with George W. Bush, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and, of course, Sarah Palin. She thanked viewers "for coming along with me on this incredible journey." 60 Minutes reporter Scott Pelley will succeed Couric, who is believed to be close to a deal for a daytime talk show on ABC.