You may recall CBS “Early Show” fans turned to Facebook around this time last year. They created a page to save the then-current “Early Show” team of Harry Smith, Maggie Rodriguez and Dave Price. It didn’t work out so well, but the page got up to 1,540 likes and has a wall post as recent as last week.

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Late last year, Smith was part of a shuffling of anchors at “The Early Show.” The team of Smith, Maggie Rodriguez and Dave Price was moved out, as Erica Hill, Chris Wragge, Marysol Castro and Jeff Glor took over.

We hear Smith is headed to NBC News where he’ll be a part of the new primetime news magazine show anchored by Brian Williams. That show is being headed up by another CBS News alum, Rome Hartman.

> Update: NBC News confirms with TVNewser that Smith is joining the network. They will announce the move on Monday.

Memo to staff from Rhodes, after the jump…

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Some people are not taking the change well:

There is also a “Save the Current Early Show Team” page on Facebook, but the 822 “likes” probably aren’t enough to force CBS to make any changes.

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The executive producer of NBC’s “Today” – No. 1 for 15 years, as of Dec. 11 – is not exactly quaking in his loafers about the all-new lineup for CBS’s third-place ‘Early Show.’

Erica Hill, Chris Wragge, Jeff Glor and Marysol Castro will replace the team of Harry Smith, Maggie Rodriguez and Dave Price beginning Jan. 3, the network announced Tuesday.

While hesitant to react to the changes himself, Big Jim confesses he was tickled by a tweet from The Daily Beast’s Kate Aurthur that read: “In theory, I like Maggie Rodriguez and am sad she’s gone from ‘CBS Early Show.’ In practice, I watch ‘Today’ like everybody else.”

The question, of course, is how CBS will pull itself out of the Nielsen basement it has occupied, seemingly, since the invention of the cathode ray tube.

“I don’t know if anything will make a difference, but they’re willing to try, and we have to take it seriously,” says Bell.

Comparing the move, as have some bloggers, to re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic is “an unfair and mean-spirited characterization that unfortunately seems to play well in places where people can post anonymous comments,” Bell says.

Steve Friedman, executive producer of MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan show, did two tours at CBS running the morning program and was e.p. of “Today.” Given the money at stake, he says CBS had no choice but to try, try, try again.

“I applaud them for saying, ‘OK, we’re going to start over.’ These are ensemble shows. There’s no such thing as ‘I do good and you don’t.’ The ensemble wasn’t working. To hold the new guy running the show [David Friedman, no relation] responsible for other anchor teams is crazy.”

Equally crazy, he says, is the notion that CBS is somehow cursed in the mornings.

“You’re cursed until you’re not. You fail until you succeed. Today’s cursed failure is

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“I’m leaving my job on ‘The Early Show’ soon, but I will always be grateful for having one of the best seats in the house.”

• Here’s the audio

As we reported yesterday, Smith as well as co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez and weather guy Dave Price are being moved off the show. CBS News & Sports president Sean McManus wrote that the three, “are moving on to new and significant roles at CBS News that capitalize on their talents and their interests.”

Smith and Price were on today’s show. Rodriguez was not. The new anchor team takes over January 3.

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TVNewser spoke to “Early Show” executive producer David Friedman–now almost exactly a year into his current role– about the decision to relaunch the program with a new team.

TVNewser: Why did you decide to make the changes at The Early Show?

David Friedman: Well, I started here a year ago, and when I came in the goal was to continue to grow this show and be more and more competitive in the morning, I looked at every single aspect of the show, from content to bookings to staffing, talent, and my big priority was not to rush to do anything, but to soak it all in and make decisions that would take us to the next level.

This was a very long process to figure out what would do just that, and put a team in place that would make us even better than we already are and going forward. It wasn’t a rushed thing, we have been talking about different options and different teams for a quite a while, and we decided this was the way to go. I am sure it feels abrupt to everyone else, but we have put a lot of thought into it.

TVN: How did you decide on the anchor lineup that will be starting January 3^rd?

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(l-r) Jeff Glor moves from correspondent and anchor of The “CBS Evening News” Saturday edition to news anchor on “Early”. Chris Wragge will leave his anchor job at WCBS-TV and co-anchor of “Early Show” Saturday to become co-anchor of the weekday edition. Erica Hill moves up from newsreader and weekend co-anchor to weekday co-anchor and Marysol Castro, late of ABC’s “Good Morning America” weekend joins as weather anchor.

TVNewser’s Alex Weprin will be speaking with “Early Show” EP David Friedman about the changes this afternoon. Look for that story in a few hours.

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The announcement could be made as soon as today. Rodriguez anchored the program this morning (left) alongside Harry Smith.

A spokesperson for CBS News would not confirm the report, and said that the network does not comment on rumors and speculation. Rodriguez joined “The Early Show” as a co-anchor in 2007, and had previously served as co-anchor of the Saturday edition of the program. Before that, she worked at CBS O&O WFOR in Miami, Florida.

Hill joined CBS full-time earlier this year. She has been co-anchor of the Saturday “Early Show” since 2008.

> More: The AP”s David Bauder reports that co-anchor Harry Smith and weather anchor Dave Price will also be leaving the show, and will be replaced by Chris Wragge and Marysol Castro, respectively.

> More: Insiders tell us Smith will stay with CBS News in an as-yet determined position. Smith, who has co-anchored “Early” since 2002, joined CBS News as a Dallas-based correspondent in 1986.

> Confirmed: Internal memo from CBS News & Sports president Sean McManus after the jump. The “exciting changes” take effect Jan. 3.

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TVNewser: Are there any big interviews already set up when you get there?
Erica Hill: I’m playing phone tag right now with all of my producers. So I know we’re working on it. I don’t have the final list yet, because I know it’s not confirmed. But I can tell you it will be good stuff.
TVNewser: You got married about 5 years ago. Was it a huge spectacle or a small ceremony?
Erica Hill: It was fairly low-key and would not even compare to a royal wedding. But it was perfect for my husband and I.
TVNewser: Why do you think Americans care about British monarchs? continued…

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From left: Natalie Morales (Justin Bieber), Will Ferrell (Megamind), Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey),  Ann Curry (Amelia Earhart),  Meredith Vieira (Lady Gaga) and Al Roker (Superman) on Rockefeller Plaza.

CBS News’­ “Early Show” anchors revealed their costumes during a “Halloween extravaganza” on the plaza.

From left: Harry Smith (“Glee’s” Sue Sylvester), Erica Hill (Lady Gaga), and Maggie Rodriguez (Kim Kardashian).

Find out if GMA stuck to their no costumes plans after the jump…

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“English-speaking anchors are at a disadvantage when it comes to stories like this,” Rodriguez tells TVNewser, “I’m so proud that we gave our viewers something they can’t get anywhere else.”

Rodriguez, who joined “The Early Show” from Miami’s CBS station in Dec. 2007, said the interview “happened so fast. My producer was with him all night, but this morning it was sit down, check levels, and go.” Sanchez had been at Camp Hope, near the mine site, for 69 days. His family members were some of the first rescued, but he “stayed until the last miner was rescued,” Rodriguez says.

When asked about CBS’ efforts to get an interview with one of the trapped miners, Rodriguez said “everybody in the entire world is trying for that interview.”

And if the next international tragedy happens in France or Italy, Rodriguez could jump into action again.

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Warning: “yummy” pictures and lots of baby talk ahead:

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Monday, co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez returns from maternity leave and the entire crew will be back together again. Rodriguez will be joining fellow co-anchors Julie Chen and Harry Smith, as well as weather anchor Dave Price.

Rodriguez, Chen and news anchor Erica Hill have all given birth this year, with Price tying the knot.

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For one, the number of major national anchors who did stints in South Florida will astound you. CNN’s Larry King and “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft both did stints at WPLG very early in their careers. King also once worked at current NBC O&O WTVJ, where Katie Couric would later be a general assignment reporter.

“Get this,” says current-HLN anchor and former Miami anchor/health reporter Robin Meade. “When I was at WSVN in 1994-ish, I did the mornings. Rick Sanchez was the main anchor at the station. Shepherd Smith was a street reporter for the same channel. Linda Stouffer (former HLN anchor) was the weekend morning anchor. And Charles Molineaux (former HLN anchor) was my co-anchor in the morning. Soon after I left, I believe Shawn Robinson started doing the mornings there before heading to access Hollywood.”

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CBS “Early Show” anchor Maggie Rodriguez had her baby boy last evening at 6:20pm in New York City. Michael Tobin Rodriguez Jr. (7 lbs., 1 oz) joins five-year-old sister Daniella. Maggie’s husband, Michael Rodriguez Sr., is an executive at Telemundo. Rodriguez had her last day on “The Early Show” Friday before beginning her leave during which news anchor Erica Hill, who just returned herself from maternity leave, will fill-in.

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