Katie Couric and ABC just announced her long-awaited deal of her coming to the alphabet with new syndicated talk show in the 3pm ET time slot to take General Hospital’s place bowing in the fall of 2012. The deal which will be produced by her ex-NBC boss and friend Jeff Zucker, also includes her signing on as a contributor to ABC News as of this summer said Variety. In announcing the deal, Disney/ABC TV Group topper Anne Sweeney who was instrumental in bringing Couric to ABC, along with ABC News prexy Ben Sherwood, hailed Couric as an “iconic” TV personality and said “We look forward to having Katie join the best news team in the business, and to working with her to create a dynamic and successful talk show franchise.” Sounds to me like Couric will be trying to grab some of the left-over thunder from Oprah’s uber successful 25 year show and will include hard news, soft news, medical news, entertainment news and all other topics that she is passionate about.