CBS could be brewing a plan to lure the hosts of “Morning Joe” to jolt the network’s lineup.
CBS is reportedly wooing Chris Licht, the executive producer of MSNBC’s popular morning show, to oversee “The Early Show.”
Licht could, in turn, lure “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski over to CBS once their contracts expire next year, according to a report in mediaite.com.
“There’s strong buzz [Licht] is going somewhere, and CBS is one of the places there’s been buzz about,” a source told The Post.
“CBS is looking at [Licht], but it may not be in the capacity you think it is,” said another source.
The perenially third-place “Early Show” underwent a drastic revamp in January, when Erica Hill and Chris Wragge assumed the anchoring chores. But CBS has been known to shuffle its morning deck.
Last month, CBS News president David Rhodes blasted “The Early Show” and, by extension, Executive Producer David Friedman, for not incorporating any of the network’s weekend news scoops into Monday morning’s show.
“CBS News had a great weekend. And a bad Monday morning,” Rhodes seethed in an internal memo. “Let’s get with it. Where’s our reporting? Make sure it’s in our show.”
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” has proven to be a popular destination for viewers with its mix of talk, Beltway insider gossip, newsmaker interviews and give-and-take between Scarborough and Brzezinski.
And the industry has taken notice.
“When Diane Sawyer left ‘GMA,’ ‘Morning Joe’ was a format [ABC] really liked,” says a network source. “It’s a different kind of show.”
Scarborough recently shot down rumors that he and Brzezinski were on the hunt for a syndication deal — and that CBS was interested.
“Mika and I are not ‘shopping’ a show to anyone,” Scarborough told The Post’s Page Six in March. “Nor have we since ‘Morning Joe’ launched in 2007.”
MSNBC officials had no comment yesterday.
“As always, we decline to comment on rumor and speculation,” a CBS News spokeswoman said.