When your Big Three morning show has got ratings in the cable-TV range, something’s got to give:
CBS News’ “The Early Show” ousted long-time anchors Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez on Tuesday to rescue the low-rated, third-place finisher among morning talk shows.
Starting on January 3, Erica Hill and Chris Wragge, who have been co-anchors of the Saturday morning telecast of “The Early Show” will take the weekday positions of Smith and Rodriguez, CBS News said. . . .
In the most recent week, rivals “Today” on NBC pulled in roughly 5.6 million viewers a day, compared with 4.6 million for ABC’s “Good Morning America” and 2.9 million for “The Early Show,” according to audience tracker Nielsen. . . .
Of course, nobody expects Eric and Chris to get higher ratings than Lauer on “Today” or Stephanopoulos on “GMA.” But CBS had to change something, and so it’s good-bye, Harry and Maggie.