Couric: Ready for TV return

AFTER three years on the Web, Katie Couric is ready to return to TV.

With her contract as “global news anchor” at Yahoo set to expire in the spring, we’re told that the veteran journalist wants to go back to broadcast television “on a regular basis.”

Sources tell Page Six that Couric’s brief return to the anchor’s chair on NBC’s “Today” show last week was intended to function as a “showcase” for Couric, who we’re told has already begun “preliminary discussions” with the beleaguered Yahoo about what her role there might be, if any, after the deal runs out. Asked about the end date of her contract, Yahoo said it doesn’t “comment on personnel matters.”

Insiders say that Couric’s camp had hoped that her brief spell anchoring alongside Matt Lauer would be a “reminder” of her appeal to TV audiences.

We’re told that the journalist — who has worked on all the major cable networks, including anchoring the “CBS Evening News” — has already been offered a five-days-a-week cable news show, but is trying to decide on “the right balance.”

“She’s already done that kind of thing, and she’s learned her lesson from it — she doesn’t want that kind of grind,” said a source familiar with Couric’s thinking. The source added, “She doesn’t necessarily need to be on TV every day, but she does need to be on TV regularly.” The source described television as a “piece that’s missing from her portfolio,” saying that she plans to continue working online in some capacity, as well as producing documentaries through her production company and making her podcasts.

Couric’s time at Yahoo has been a rough ride. She was hired by CEO Marissa Mayer as part of a now-abandoned attempt to turn the search site into a news and entertainment powerhouse. After shuttering many of its content-producing entities, a deal was struck for Verizon to buy its remaining properties. But that deal is now in jeopardy after a massive breach of Yahoo e-mail addresses left Verizon nervy abut the purchase.