Couric to Bid 'CBS Evening News' Desk Farewell Next Week

Set those DVRs and save the date: Katie Couric has announced when she'll sign off "CBS Evening News" one final time.

Couric told her nightly news audience Friday that she would make her last bow with her May 19 broadcast, which she said would include a retrospective of the most pivotal stories she reported during her five-year tenure behind the network's anchor desk. Couric announced last month that she would be stepping down when her five-year contract as anchor and Editor In Chief of "CBS Evening News" ends June 4.

Rumors have Couric possibly helming a syndicated ABC daytime talk show to debut in 2012, with an official announcement coming sometime after Couric's CBS deal expires.

Couric put together an award-winning, five-year CBS tenure -- for those keeping score, that would be the 2008 and 2009 Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best Anchor and the 2009 Emmy Governor's Award for her whole broadcast career -- but never pulled CBS from third place in the evening news rating race. In 2008, she became infamous among the GOP for her John McCain-backed series of what Palin dubbed "gotcha" interviews with Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Following Couric's departure, it looks like rotating guest anchors may fill Couric's chair, until permanent replacement Scot Pelley steps on June 6.

On her arch nemesis' exit, Palin said shortly after Couric announced her exit, "Yeah, and I hear that she wants to now engage in more 'multi-dimensional story telling' versus I guess just the 'straight on, read into the, that teleprompter screen story telling'. More power to her. I wish her well in her 'multi-dimensional story telling.'"