There had been talk that Bryant Gumbel was ready to leave CBS' Early Show, that he was thinking about writing a book and that if he stayed he wanted a year-to-year contract to give him an out.

        CBS, looking for continuity, preferred a long-term deal. As contract negotiations got underway recently, insiders put the odds of him staying at 50/50.

        What it came down to is unclear, but when Mr. Gumbel announced Thursday that he was stepping down after 2 1/2 years on The Early Show and 17 years on morning television, it wasn't totally unexpected.

        “I feel it's time for me to move on and do something else with my life,” said Mr. Gumbel, 53. He'll anchor for the next few weeks.

        Mr. Gumbel's decision comes at a time when CBS has made inroads in morning television: The Early Show audience is younger than it once was, and as a result, CBS is said to be making $50 million a year after it had been making $8 million in the two-hour time slot.

        But in ratings, Early remains a distant third behind No. 1 NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America — said to make $250 million and $110 million a year, respectively.

        Mr. Gumbel alluded to his failure to make Early Show “a serious contender.”

        “While I am naturally disappointed that the show didn't fare better in the ratings, I am pleased with the quality of the broadcast we created,” Mr. Gumbel said. “I remain grateful for the opportunity I had to make CBS a competitive presence in the morning.”

        Mr. Gumbel signed with CBS in May 1997 after working for NBC for nearly 25 years, 15 of them as host of Today, where he was the first black network morning anchor.

        Mr. Gumbel isn't waving TV goodbye: He just signed a new multi-year deal with HBO to continue anchoring Real Sports, which pays him $1 million a year.

        “I think he feels a tremendous burden has been lifted,” said Early Show producer Steve Friedman, who has worked with Mr. Gumbel on and off for 30 years since their days in the early '70s at KNBC in Los Angeles. “And I'm sure that from now on, when 4 o'clock in the morning comes around, he'll be a very happy man.”

        Mr. Gumbel's pending departure opens up a prime piece of broadcast network television real estate.

        Insiders are buzzing with names of people to sit next to co-anchor Jane Clayson.

        Already in the mix:

        • Jack Ford, a former NBC staffer who last worked as Charles Gibson's backup on ABC's Good Morning America.

        • Russ Mitchell, who serves as anchor of the weekend editions of The Early Show.

        • John Roberts, CBS' Washington correspondent, long seen as Dan Rather's heir apparent.

        • Jon Frankel, a former Today staffer who reports for The Early Show and has filled in for Mr. Gumbel.

        • Antonio Mora, former GMA newsreader, now an anchor at CBS' station in Chicago.

        • Tom Bergeron, the host of Hollywood Squares, who has gotten good marks subbing for Mr. Gumbel, though he has no real news background;

        • Jim Nantz, a CBS sportscaster, who has been asked about the job in the past and said no.

        “This is one of the most important jobs on television,” said Marty Ryan, executive producer of Fox News Sunday and a former Today executive producer. “One of the areas of growth is morning television.”

        To that end, an anchor shift like this could reverberate across the morning TV landscape.

        When Mr. Gumbel left NBC's Today show to take a job in prime-time for CBS, ratings went up on the NBC morning show. And when ABC added Mr. Gibson and Diane Sawyer to Good Morning America, the show's rapidly tumbling ratings leveled off and began to grow.

        “The major problem with The Early Show is that Gumbel and Clayson are oil and water,” said Andrew Tyndall, who edits a newsletter that tracks news programming. “They've got different styles of journalism. They need to get someone who is Clayson-friendly.”

        Ms. Clayson said she's committed to the network and the program. Her contract with CBS is up in the fall.

        “I don't know who's going to be taking his place,” she said. “I look forward to being part of the morning show, whoever sits next to me.”

        Mr. Friedman has often said that changes on other shows present opportunities for his show to gain traction. But now, he's faced with adding a new anchor. There's been speculation Mr. Friedman might also move on, though he's working under a new three-year deal.

        “You have to be great on television,” Mr. Ryan said of the morning-show needs. “When you have two hours a day, you have to have a very broad range. On any given day, Bryant would talk to Jodie Foster, Martha Stewart and Colin Powell.”

        Finding that person is not easy. Besides the obvious journalistic requirements, the on-air team has to have the elusive chemistry often discussed in TV circles, but difficult to explain.

        “When you sit next to somebody, you can't hide that stuff,” Mr. Ryan said. “You have to get along and you have to work with people.”

        USA Today and the New York Daily News contributed to this report.
       

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