Richard Johnson & Co. are expanding on a Los Angeles Times item yesterday that hinted CBS News is ready to announce a deal with Katie Couric. Sure, the media crits have been expounding on the idea for weeks and months, but Page Six claims the announcement could come "any day now." And when the Sixers spit it, you know it's gospel.

But the media movement doesn't stop there. ABC, not content to be completely forgotten about, is prepared to announce Charlie Gibson will take over Peter Jennings' old job, leaving Liz Vargas to swing in the 20/20 wind.

And most interesting to us, former Good Morning America and Primetime Live exec producer Shelley Ross will be responsible for ousting Rick Kaplan. She'll soon be sitting in his Secaucus office — and within weeks shouldering the blame for dismal Nielsens.

But back to Katie for a minute. If she does wave goodbye to her $13 million-a-year gig at NBC for a better paying anchor chair assignment and a flip-flopped sleeping schedule, it'll mean one thing in particular: CBS head Les Moonves didn't take Jon Friedman's advice to groom his own star. And that just makes us wish we had a heart to break.

Katie to CBS? [Page Six]
NBC's Couric May Jump to Rival CBS [LAT]
Related: Jon Friedman should keep his letters to himself