Who was the first host of The Early Show on CBS?
The Early Show
Bryant Gumbel
The Early Show began on November 1, 1999 (around the time when Viacom, a former CBS division, had purchased the network) when CBS executives successfully lured former Today host Bryant Gumbel to head up the broadcast, teamed with ABC News correspondent Jane Clayson. Unlike with This Morning, CBS asked its affiliates to carry the two-hour program in its entirety. Julie Chen read the news, while Mark McEwen of Live By Request, the sole holdover from This Morning, did the weather. Initial ratings were not encouraging, and were actually lower than those of This Morning.[11][12] Gumbel left on May 17, 2002,[13] and shortly thereafter Clayson and McEwen were replaced.