By SAMANTHA ETTUS
Scripps Howard News Service
15-MAR-06

The countdown has begun. In the next two months both NBC and loyal Today Show viewers alike will find out what Katie Couric is thinking. Will she remain on her Today Show throne or will she move to CBS to anchor the evening news and cause a colossal shake up of the cozy early morning landscape? NBC isn't simply crossing their fingers that coveted Katie will stay. Instead, they have been busily strategizing her replacement should her decision not go their way. 

Replacing Katie will prove an enormous challenge. It isn't just her ability to shift effortlessly from interviewing a US president to a movie star, it is that we care about Katie. We care about her in big ways like when her husband passed away from colon cancer and we care about her in small ways as in what shoes she likes best. Katie has amassed a vast group of fans who can't get enough of what she is eating, wearing, or watching.

NBC is reportedly weighing four contenders to fill her spot should she leave: Campbell Brown, Ann Curry, Natalie Morales, and Meredith Vieira. Let's take a look at how they fare.

Ann Curry
When Matt Lauer made the seamless transition to replacing Bryant Gumbel as anchor, it helped that he had spent the past three years just a few feet away at the Today Show news desk. Curry has earned numerous fans by reading the news with aplomb but once she gets out from behind the desk, her popularity takes a turn for the worse. Curry hasn't learned that fawning at her subject's feet is not an interview technique. She spends too much time kowtowing to her guests and not enough time teasing out the story. Though a favorite for the spot, Curry is an unlikely and unreliable choice for the job.

Ann Curry's Celebrity A$$ets

Natalie Morales
Morales has become an even bigger Today Show presence in the last six months. And her previous stint as a co-anchor on MSNBC proves that she has the strength to sit in the chair. Yet it remains to be seen whether Morales can transition into a person we want to have coffee with each morning. She is a beauty whose skinny physique might not work for the watchers who enjoyed Katie's weight bouncing up and down like theirs. It doesn't matter that Katie is thin. What matters is that we know she has to work hard to stay that way. Morales is good at the news, filling in for Ann Curry at the desk and taking a bigger chunk of airtime in the daily third hour but her ability to shift gears fast while developing an approachable on air persona remains an unknown. 

Natalie Morales' Celebrity A$$$ets

Campbell Brown
Though Brown's hard news background is extraordinary, it is the softer side that could cause trouble. As a former White House correspondent and the current co-anchor of Weekend Today, Brown is the safest choice for the Today Show anchor slot. Her serious delivery is offset by her occasional goofiness yet whether we can grow to care about her hairstyle and her breakfast remains a mystery. To really fit the role, she will need to be convincingly approachable and aspirational in one package.

Campbell Brown's Celebrity A$$$ets

Meredith Vieira
Vieira marries a hard news background with a penchant for coffee talk in her current role as co-host of The View. You can bet that NBC is salivating over her View following- it overlaps with the Today Show and she will inevitably bring along some of her own fans which would be a much needed boost after what NBC fears will be a mass exile in the wake of Katie's departure. As the oldest of the four contenders, Vieira is experienced and confident enough to fill Katie's big shoes. And she is the most likely of the choices to be a strong competitor against formidable opponent, Diane Sawyer at Good Morning America. 

Meredith Vieira's Celebrity A$$$$ets

(Samantha Ettus' latest book, "The Experts' Guide to Life at Home" (Random House) is now in bookstores. She welcomes your comments at Samantha@celebrityassets.com.)