CBS News is overhauling the on-air team at *The Early Show* in an effort to lift the program from third place in the network morning news ratings. Beginning January 3, Saturday co-anchors Chris Wragge and Erica Hill will replace weekday hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez. Marysol Castro, formerly of ABC’s weekend *Good Morning America*, will replace weather forecaster Dave Price, while Jeff Glor will join as news reader.

CBS executives said they believe the new team has the energy and chemistry to help the show grow. Executive producer David Friedman emphasized that the decision was about finding the right team for the future. CBS News President Sean McManus cautioned that he did not expect an immediate ratings turnaround: NBC’s *Today* had not lost a week in nearly 15 years. In the week before Thanksgiving, *Today* averaged 5.6 million daily viewers, ABC’s *Good Morning America* drew 4.6 million, and *The Early Show* averaged 2.9 million.

Smith, who had hosted CBS morning programs for 17 of the previous 25 years, will remain at the network as a news reporter and primary substitute anchor for the *CBS Evening News*, *Face the Nation* and *Sunday Morning*. He expressed gratitude for his time on the morning show and wished his successors well. CBS said it was discussing future roles for Rodriguez and Price.

Wragge and Hill have co-anchored the Saturday edition since 2008. Hill is already familiar to weekday viewers as the show’s news reader, while Wragge will leave his local news anchor role at CBS’s New York affiliate to take the national position. McManus praised the pair’s ability to move between hard news and lighter stories. Television critic and professor David Bianculli said the show had struggled for a long time, though he described the speed of the shake-up as surprising and a sign of desperation.