A Koppel departure would come on the heels of the retirement of NBC's Tom Brokaw (in December) and this week's departure of Dan Rather from the "CBS Evening News."

ABC insiders tell NewsMax that the veteran newsman is likely to wind up as the new host of the Sunday morning news show "This Week," currently hosted by George Stephanopoulos.

The show, once hosted by David Brinkley, has steadily dropped in the ratings and now languishes in third place behind CBS's "Face The Nation," hosted by Bob Schieffer.

Schieffer replaces Rather (at least temporarily) as the new anchor of the "CBS Evening News" this week.

Where "Nightline" is headed remains an open question.

Stephanopoulos has been "auditioning" as Koppel's possible replacement, to less than enthusiastic ratings, say ABC officials.

As a result, ABC News has been quietly developing a new "Nightline" replacement and has authorized several pilot episodes of the new offer.

This follows a preliminary sample of the new broadcast offered to ABC News officials last January.

The "Nightline" alternative, currently in pilot production, would be tied more to current affairs rather than feature news, say ABC insiders.

The program, as currently produced, would be hosted by Bill Weir, host of "Good Morning America's" weekend edition, and ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper.

"It is a foregone conclusion that Ted is gone," explained one ABC News veteran. "What happens to George [Stephanopoulos]? That's the question."

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