The early bird doesn't always get the worm. 
 
 CBS' "Early Show" is playing musical chairs yet again by replacing its on-air team. Making their exit are Maggie Rodriguez, Harry Smith and Dave Price. 
 
 Moving in are Chris Wragge and Erica Hill, co-anchors of the Saturday edition of the "Early Show" since 2008, who are scheduled to take over as co-anchors of the weekday show starting Jan. 3. 
 
 Also joining the team will be Jeff Glor, who has been anchoring the network's Saturday newscast, and Marysol Castro of ABC's "Good Morning America" weekend edition, who will serve as a weather anchor. 
 
 Smith will become the primary substitute anchor for Katie Couric's evening newscast, "Face the Nation" and "Sunday Morning." 
 
 New roles for Rodriguez and Price are to be determined. 
 
 What do you think of the new team, Show Trackers? Will it be enough to break the show out of third place? 
 
 -- Yvonne Villarreal 
 
 twitter.com/villarrealy 
 
 Photo: Maggie Rodriguez. Credit: Getty Images ||||| CBS News abruptly gave "The Early Show" a complete makeover in an attempt to freshen the show, replacing co-hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez with its current Saturday anchor team of Chris Wragge and Erica Hill. 
 
 FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2009 file photo, host Maggie Rodriguez is shown on CBS News' "The Early Show" in New York. CBS News is completely overhauling "The Early Show" broadcast team. Co-anchors Harry... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 13, 2008 file photo, Harry Smith, anchor of the"The Early Show" on CBS television introduces the announcement of the nominees for the American Theatre Wing's 2008 Tony Awards for Broadway... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 24, 2010 file photo, Dave Price, center, performs with Backstreet Boys Howie Dorough and Brian Littrell on CBS News' "The Early Show" in New York. CBS News is completely overhauling... (Associated Press) 
 
 The network is also replacing weather forecaster Dave Price with Marysol Castro, formerly of ABC's "Good Morning America" weekend edition, and adding Jeff Glor as the regular news reader. 
 
 The new team will start Jan. 3. 
 
 There had been little inkling that alterations were afoot, although the show had changed its executive producer, David Friedman, within the past year. Friedman said he believed the new team had the right energy and chemistry to embark on another effort at lifting the show out of third place in the network morning news ratings. 
 
 "It's less about what we weren't getting and less about a generational change or a different direction," Friedman said. "We just literally think this is the right team going forward." 
 
 "The Early Show" has consistently ranked behind the morning champ, NBC's "Today" show, and ABC's "Good Morning America." The week before Thanksgiving was typical. "Today" averaged 5.6 million viewers each day, "GMA" had 4.6 million and "The Early Show" had 2.9 million, the Nielsen Co. said. 
 
 CBS News President Sean McManus said he won't be expecting any immediate ratings changes in a time where "Today" hasn't lost a single week in nearly 15 years. But he said he believed the new team will help the show grow. 
 
 "This group, I think, will work very well together," McManus said. "I think the chemistry will be very good." 
 
 "We just felt the timing was right to start planning for the future," he said. 
 
 Smith had the longest tenure on "The Early Show." He was the sole survivor from 2002 when CBS installed a four-anchor team that included Smith, Hannah Storm, Julie Chen and Rene Syler. Chen still contributes occasional reports to the show; the others have left CBS News. 
 
 Smith also hosted a previous CBS morning show from 1987 to 1996. CBS said he'll stay at the network as a news reporter and primary substitute at the "CBS Evening News," "Face the Nation" and "Sunday Morning." 
 
 Alerted that changes were coming, Smith said he took a "long walk on a cold golf course" Sunday and reflected on doing the CBS morning show for 17 of the last 25 years. "To be honest, I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunities I've had," he said, confirming that he plans to stay at CBS. 
 
 "I have given them everything I can possibly give," said Smith, 59. "I wish the people who follow nothing but the best. God love 'em, I hope they can move the (ratings) needle more." 
 
 Wragge worked in sports, including a stint as a sideline reporter at events for NBC, until he made the jump to news in 2006. Beside his weekend job at CBS, he had been anchoring local news broadcasts at the network's New York affiliate, a job he'll give up to go national. 
 
 Hill, who came to CBS from CNN, briefly filled in for Rodriguez last year when Rodriguez was on maternity leave. She's the only holdover from the current daily program, although in a different role. Currently, she reads the newscasts. 
 
 Wragge and Hill's growth as a team has been evident on Saturday mornings, and they've proven adept at shifting between hard news and lighter fare, McManus said. 
 
 "They're uniquely suited to each other and to the morning show genre," he said. 
 
 Friedman said it's an advantage for CBS that its regular viewers know each of the new personalities, except for weather forecaster Castro. 
 
 "You're not introducing somebody to the morning genre that has never been in the morning genre," he said. "That is a little bit tougher." That's likely a reference to the other recent morning transition, where George Stephanopoulos replaced Diane Sawyer as a co-host at "Good Morning America" late last year. 
 
 "It's hard to fault CBS for looking to shake things up," said David Bianculli, a veteran television critic and now a media professor at Rowan University in New Jersey. "I have a lot of respect for Harry Smith, but for a long time, this has not been working on a daily basis." 
 
 The suddenness of the "bloodbath" was surprising, Bianculli said. 
 
 "Anything that's done this quickly smells of desperation," he said. 
 
 CBS News said it is discussing future roles at the network with Rodriquez and Price. Price has filmed human interest reports along with doing the weather on "The Early Show." Earlier this month, producers dropped him off in Alaska with only $50 and a phone and challenged him to earn his way back to New York City. 
 
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 http://www.cbs.com ||||| With media attention focused on turmoil at other network newscasts, NBC’s top-rated morning show is quietly weighing its own shake-up as co-host Meredith Vieira considers a future without Today. 
 
 Vieira, who seamlessly took the reins opposite Matt Lauer nearly five years ago, is said to be considering leaving the program when her reported $11 million annual contract expires in September. According to sources, Vieira, 57, has tired of the grueling lifestyle and would like to spend more time with her ill husband. 
 
 “There is going to be an opening; she’s done,” says one source with knowledge of the situation. Another suggests she is still making her decision but that re-upping looks unlikely. 
 
 Although NBC News executives proved adept at the host transition when 15-year veteran Katie Couric stepped down in 2006, Vieira’s departure would nonetheless create a void at the dominant morning franchise — and an opportunity for rivals to pounce. In addition to being among the longest-running programs, Today has been the top-rated morning show for nearly 800 consecutive weeks (or more than 15 years). That longevity, coupled with its airtime — four hours Monday-Friday and three hours on the weekend — has made the show a profit center for NBC News. Today generated $454 million in ad revenue last year for its weekday broadcasts alone, according to estimates provided by Kantar Media. (By comparison, ABC’s Good Morning America, a perennial No. 2, took in $314 million, and CBS’ Early Show, a distant third in the ratings, earned $178 million.) 
 
 Vieira, who still hosts the syndicated game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, could decide to extend her contract for another 12 months as she did last year. But sources say the Today team has already started weighing replacement options. Potential heirs apparent to Vieira are said to include Today’s Ann Curry and Natalie Morales, Washington correspondent Savannah Guthrie and CNBC’s Erin Burnett. (Lauer, who has co-hosted Today since 1997, is locked in longer than Vieira, but his potential departure has NBC News eyeing its male anchor crop, including MSNBC’s Willie Geist and CNBC’s Carl Quintanilla.) 
 
 An NBC News spokesperson declined comment on possible anchor changes, except to say, “The Today show anchors are currently under contract and firmly in place.” Reps for Vieira declined comment. 
 
 Curry and Morales have the advantage of being familiar to NBC’s morning viewers. Curry, in particular, has paid her dues at Today, where she has been the show’s news anchor since 1997. Whether she’ll walk if the job doesn’t become hers is a concern that will inevitably be factored into the decision-making process. 
 
 For her part, Burnett has seen her profile steadily rise at the company. She hosts CNBC’s Squawk on the Street and Street Signs and appears on various NBC News programs to comment on financial stories. But while she sometimes turns up on Today, one source suggests NBC higher-ups are not convinced she’s a good fit for morning television. 
 
 Guthrie is said to have executives at the network most excited. The 39-year-old lawyer by training has proved a natural at traversing hard news and features — a requirement for a network morning show — when she has filled in for Vieira. 
 
 If Vieira does decide to bolt, it won’t come as a major surprise to anyone who has paid attention to her comments through the years. “A couple months into it, a little voice in my head said at 3:30, ‘You’re mentally ill; don’t get up,’ ” Vieira told the New York Daily News in 2006. 
 
 She has been similarly candid about having to navigate the personal burden of her husband Richard Cohen’s long battle with multiple sclerosis. “I’ll know when it’s time to go, and I’m not afraid,” she told Ladies’ Home Journal in October. “If I were to leave Today at the end of next year because it’s time for me, I wouldn’t jump to another show. I would look forward to not working, to traveling with Richard and carving out time for us.”
– CBS is scrapping its Early Show team, replacing co-hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez with the anchors of the show's Saturday edition, Chris Wragge and Erica Hill. Other more minor players also are leaving in the switch, which takes place early next year, the LA Times reports. The show has been consistently stuck in third place, well behind Today and Good Morning America. Smith, who survived the last major overhaul of the show in 2002, will stick with the network as Katie Couric's main backup on the CBS Evening News, notes AP. Click here for more.