• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 6, 2011

Disney said Monday that Katie Couric, who recently finished a run hosting the CBS evening newscast, would join the company as a member of ABC News and as host of a syndicated talk show.

The syndicated show will be distributed by Disney/ABC Domestic Television starting in fall 2012. Jeff Zucker, who was CEO of NBC Universal and executive producer of the "Today" show when Couric was a host, will also be an executive producer on the unnamed syndicated offering.

The show will be based in New York and fill a 3 p.m. slot on ABC's eight owned-and-operated stations that cover about 23% of the country, including in the top-four markets.

Couric will have a multifaceted, although apparently still-to-be-defined, role at ABC News.

"I'm very happy to be returning to the network where I began my career as a desk assistant in 1979," Couric stated.

ABC will give a half hour of its daytime block to affiliates.