Battle Of the Morning People

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GMA executive producer Shelley Ross is eager to downplay that speculation. "Diane and Charlie are not going anywhere," she says. "They're enjoying what they're doing." Perhaps, but they're also doing 20/20, a tough demand on top of waking when it's time to make the doughnuts. "I love the broadcast," Gibson says, "but it does wear you down."

Lauer recognizes that Today, lead or no, must change in order to thrive--"If the competition copies your widget, you have to come up with a better widget"--even as ABC seeks permanent hosts and CBS's crew gets its footing. But even a relatively small boost for Early could justify the investment. "The monetary difference between first and third place in the morning," says CBS News president Andrew Heyward, "is dramatically different from at night." Still, Gumbel and Clayson have a tough job ahead, with little time to prepare as CBS scrambles to finish its new set. "It's like taking your first draft and putting it on the front page," says Gumbel. Clayson, a Mormon who abstains from coffee, will manage that early-morning wakeup using an alarm clock given her by Pauley. But she might want to test it first. Pauley, after all, anchored Today. And those morning rivalries die hard.