The Journal report said she could leave CBS soon after a new President is sworn in next January.

CBS denied The Journal story, which cited unnamed CBS News executives and unidentified people "close to Katie Couric."

"We have no plans for any changes," the CBS statement said.

TV news insiders speculated that the talk of a Couric exit was an effort from her camp to force CBS into a contract conversation that has not yet occurred, perhaps with a view toward moving her to "60 Minutes."

The much-hyped arrival of Couric, a longtime host of rival NBC's top-rated "Today" morning show, drew huge audiences to the CBS "Evening News" for a couple of weeks after she took over in September 2006.

Couric promised to bring a softer touch to the broadcast, including longer feature stories, in-depth interviews and a chattier approach.

But the retooled show quickly lost all the new viewers and plenty of the old ones, too. It plunged to the bottom of the three-way network news ratings race - and has stayed there ever since.

Couric couldn't even match the numbers put up by Bob Schieffer, the "Face the Nation" host who kept the anchor seat warm after Rather left under a cloud over questions about his report on President Bush's National Guard service.

Rather piled pressure on Couric last year by accusing her of "dumbing down" and "tarting up" the venerable show that for years was anchored by Walter Cronkite, often called the "most trusted man in America."

Soon, many of her new features were gone and she even ditched the "Hi, everyone," greeting in favor of the more formal "Hello."

Ratings have ticked up a bit, but the "Evening News" is still mired below 6 million daily viewers, choking on the exhaust in the race between NBC's Brian Williams, who drew 8.3 million pairs of eyes, and ABC's Charles Gibson, who lured 8 million to the tube on average last month.

Couric admitted the gig was tougher than she thought - and whined that CBS was stingier than her old bosses at NBC.

"I have days when I'm like, 'Oh, my God, what did I do?' " she said in a New York magazine interview last summer. She also said she felt like critics put her through a "feeding frenzy" and admitted slapping an editor repeatedly during a frustrating moment.

"I was aggravated. There's no question about that," Couric confessed to the magazine.

Other setbacks included a week-long stint in Iraq, during which the show's ratings plumbed new depths, and an interview with former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards and his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, which critics found overly harsh.

The Tiffany network released a statement from Couric in which she claimed to be "working hard and having fun."

"I am very proud of the show we put on every day," Couric said.