Meredith Vieira's Leaving Today Already?!

Katie Couric's apparently not the only one done after five years at her dream job

By Natalie Finn Apr 05, 2011 10:30 PMTags
Meredith VieiraPeter Kramer/NBC

Turns out Katie Couric isn't the only one who's feeling the five-year itch.

Meredith Vieira, who took over for Couric on NBC's Today after its reigning ball of sunshine left to anchor the CBS Evening News, is expected to leave the show soon, say sources close to Vieira.

Her looming departure isn't exactly on the record yet, however.

"The Today show anchors are currently under contract and firmly in place," a rep for NBC and Today tells E! News in a statement.

But the unofficial word is that Vieira is getting ready to leave and Matt Lauer will need a new leading lady. Theoretically, the hunt for Vieira's replacement will be a fun story to follow, but longtime Today news anchor and Dateline NBC host Ann Curry is already the frontrunner, NBC News insiders tell TV Guide, which first learned of her expected departure.

Vieira, 57, cohosted The View for nine years before getting the chance to talk without being interrupted by joining the top-rated Today in 2006. Her reported $11 million annual contract expires in September.

She has been candid about her husband Richard Cohen's battle with multiple sclerosis and her desire to spend more time with him when she can. They have three children together.

"I'll know when it's time to go, and I'm not afraid," Vieira told Ladies' Home Journal in October. "If I were to leave Today at the end of next year because it's time for me, I wouldn't jump to another show. I would look forward to not working, to traveling with Richard and carving out time for us."

When she left for CBS, Couric became the first female solo anchor of a network evening newscast. In December 2009, ABC tapped Good Morning America host Diane Sawyer for the top job on its ABC World News.