"One scenario gaining commerce among industry cognescenti is that CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves will name an interim placeholder — The Early Show co-host Harry Smith, Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer or 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley — until he can land a superstar to take over. If that's the tack he takes, what I hear is that the big name he's most likely to court is Katie Couric, arguably the most incandescent of all the stars in the news constellation," writes columnist J. Max Robins.

USA Today, meanwhile, reports that ABC's hit prime-time comedy "Desperate Housewives" is making Couric and company desperate.

Thanks to those guest appearances by the "Housewives" beauties on "Good Morning America," as well as ABC's growing buzz thanks to other new hits such as "Lost," even as NBC's prime-time schedule fades, Katie is said to be getting cranky.

"There is talk that NBC News executives increasingly are concerned about Today and its hold on viewers," the paper reveals.

Editor's note: